ORIGIN: Qian Dao Hu, Zhejiang, China
MEANING: Dragon well (long jing)
CULTIVAR: Long Jing № 43
HARVEST TIME: 29 March 2022
TASTE: Sugar snap pea, lychee, butter
This mild Long Jing has traded in the nuttiness usually associated with the type for freshness, a slight roasting leaving the flattened leaves very bright and bursting with spring vegetables—snap pea, sweet corn, and fiddlehead fern—along with a hint of tropical fruit like lychee. It is its butteriness, however, that makes it truly stand out, a warming side that complements its acidity. Consider it, perhaps, the green tea take on the espresso macchiato.