Chairman Mao – who hasn’t heard about this man? Mao Tse Tung founded the People’s Republic of China, and was part of the founding fathers of the Communist Party in China. He was both revered and despised almost equally both by the Chinese and foreigners. However, one thing that he is known for that goes beyond politics and religion was his love for tea.
Dragon Well Tea, also known as Longjing was Chairman Mao’s green tea. It is China’s most famous green tea, and because of this, there are many who try to copy it, and failed. If you have tried this green tea, and not been happy with the experience, then it was probably a fake Dragon Well tea.
The reasons why this is the best green tea, at least in China is because of the technique used in processing the tea. The original Dragon Well green was grown in Lion Peak Mountain in Xihu, China. However, because of its immense popularity and demand, you can find this tea plant being cultivated throughout China. It’s also becoming more and more popular in America since there are so many fantastic benefits of drinking green tea.
Dragon Well green tea is made from the very young buds of the tea plant. They are so young that the buds are barely open, and the leaves are still curled. The process does not used tea leaves that are fully grown or open. In fact, these buds are around 2 centimeters long only, and one kilo could contain as much as 80,000 buds.
Since tea leaves grow quickly, there is a very small window of opportunity to harvest these buds. The tea shoots must be picked within 6 weeks with the first couple of weeks being the first harvest (or the high quality), and the last 4 weeks as the second harvest ( or lower quality).
After this two harvest, the tea plants are left to rest for the rest of the year, and no more harvests are done. Of course, this intense harvest schedule is followed by other tea makers, so the harvest process alone is not enough to make Dragon Well one of the best green tea in the world. It also has a great deal to do with the processing.
When it comes to the manufacturing and processing part of the process, Dragon Well tea is handmade. There are 10 hand movements involved in making the tea. The traditional way of making this green tea is grasp, toss, shake, pile, throw, buckle, press, and grind. Sound simple enough, right? Actually a neophyte studying how to process this particular kind of green tea can take as long as 3 years to perfect the art. This is because several other factors have to be taken into consideration like temperature, moisture content, and color. Nothing this good is ever as simple as it appears, and that’s why Dragon Well Green Tea is one of the best green teas you can find.
It goes hand in hand with an easy diet plan, and green tea weight loss has become more and more common. It also takes less than 5 minutes to make!