Tea provided by Teavivre for review
I prepared this tea after having 5 steeps of the Superfine Dragon Well in a gaiwan. My palate isn’t the most well trained, but it was quite a difference.
The first steep tasted much more well blended. It’s light, sweet, buttery and vegetal characteristics all harmonize on my palate. They are subtle in flavour, but it has it’s own charming intensity due to none of the flavours standing out.
Second to fourth steeps were wonderful, with the fifth being a bit too weak for my preference. Overall the flavour never developed into anything repellant (no bitterness/astringency)
Truthfully, I’m not well experienced with Dragon Well tea of this quality. It’s usually out of my budget for more than occasional use. That being said, the nonpareil version is very different from any of the other types of Dragon Well offered by Teavivre. If you want a really classy and subtle tea to impress someone, gift, or reward yourself with, you couldn’t do better. The only downside to this (aside from price obviously), is that nonpareil is a subtle mix of flavours whereas the other versions are much bolder and vibrant. The great thing about subtle teas (for me at least) is that they demand your attention. I love sitting down, preparing it in a gaiwan, focusing my senses on it, and not letting any distraction get in the way of me enjoying how wonderful the experience is.
Steep time: rinse, 20s, 40s, 70s, 120s, 150s
