White Dragonwell - Song Tea — THE RAMEN GUIDE

Notes of fresh squash, walnuts, and peanut brittle.

Visual Notes

I love the appearance of Dragonwell teas. The appear to be flattened, as if you stuck the leaves between a big book for a long time. The leaves are all uniform in size, measuring about two centimeters long, with very few small particles. They are a yellow brown color with a slight hint of green. For being a “green tea” the appearance of this leaf is much more withered, which comes from the pan roasting method characteristic of Dragonwell teas. However compared to other Dragonwell teas that I have seen, the color does appear to be slightly more yellow. I would be inclined to think that this is what leads to the name “white” Dragonwell, but the white color in it’s name refers to the white down, which are the tiny furs on the surface of the leaf. The down is not visible on this tea, but I imagine it was before the processing stage.

Scent Notes

The dry tea leaves give of a sweet and roasted aroma. When steamed, the tea leaves give off a nutty aroma, like peanut toffee brittle. The tea itself releases more nutty notes, but still maintains an underlying sweetness, like smelling a toffee candy shop from across the street.

Tasting Notes

For the first infusion, it is advised to preheat the brewing vessel with hot water, and brew the first infusion with no wash. This is traditional with Dragonwell teas. The first infusion brews to a very pale yellow, edging on gold. It is much lighter than a white wine, but does not have the gold allure of a champagne color. The infusion seems crystal clear with no fogginess or oily appearance. The scent gives off nutty and vegetal aromas of fresh squash. The texture is watery, but the flavor is astoundingly nutty and rich. Immediately there is a green nutty texture, that seems to blend walnuts with zucchini, and has a roasted note that is very light, unlike a roasted oolong. This flavor is the mostly concentrated at the front of the tongue, and does not spread across the palate. It does have a slight astringency right off the bat that passes along a slight bitterness, but does dry the mouth quickly after a few sips. The tea has an essence that feels very clean, as the flavors are light in richness, but rich in depth. The strong distinct nutty flavor appears to smooth out and become more balanced sip after sip. The finish leaves a drying sensation from the astringency, with a slight roasted warmth to the breath.
There is not much change in appearance on the second infusion. There is no change in texture, but there is a notable pickup in the bitterness of the tea. The sweeter notes have faded, and a stronger walnut like bitterness is growing. The flavor is still concentrated at the front of the mouth, and only the roasted nutty finish seems to really spread. This tea is starting to edge on the border of unpleasant bitterness, which is unfortunate. The astringency is already strong and continues to build.
Despite the decrease in flavor quality, the color and appearance of the tea infusion remains similar. The flavor now seems to be a smeared version of the first infusion. If the first infusion was a strong peak of one distinct flavor, each successive infusion after that has flattened out that peak into a wider distribution of flavors, ranging from nutty, bitter, vegetal, but still watered down in intensity. There is a slight development in flavor compared to the prior infusion, where it is different rather than simply a decayed version. However, the bitterness is still moderately high, and the sweetness is across the room in a corner, just out of reach.
The 4th infusion is nothing to write home about. It is just a watered down version of the prior. Less richness, less nuttiness. There is less bitterness, but it still stands out since it is one of the remaining notable tastes. The roasted aroma has finally spread across the palate through the finish, but it is still thin and unfulfilling.

Rating: 4/5

I was prepared to like this tea a lot more than I did. It has a really really strong first impression with a beautiful appearance, scent, and color. The first infusion is an easy 5/5. However, immediately after the first infusion, the quality dropped off a cliff and never recovered. The tea quickly became bitter and lot any character about it.

This tea gives off notes of fresh squash, walnuts, and peanut brittle. I love the unique nuttiness in this tea that feels like it has character compared to other Dragonwell tea I have tried. The taste is centralized but has strong identity. The hot tea leaves give off a lovely peanut brittle aroma, and the color of the tea is clear and consistent. The tea gives a great first infusion, but the latter infusions are much more bitter and lack the character of the first. For this reason I am disappointed in this tea.

Tea Seller’s Description

Notes of chrysanthemum, gingko nut, and marshmallow.

Green tea from Zhejiang, China・April 2022・白龍井・Organic

White Dragonwell’s unusual name refers to this tea’s cultivar, which yields brilliant green leaves with a whitish down. It is closely related to a rare green tea called Anji Baicha (or Anji White Tea). The buds are small and boast wonderful fruit and floral notes.

What particularly distinguishes this tea is its source garden. At 1200m, the garden is in northern Zhejiang Province, less than an hour drive from Thousand Island Lake. It is remote, accessible via a single path that meanders through rows of loosely clustered tea plants. Limited infrastructure results in these plants being effectively dry-farmed. The region’s remoteness and elevation produce beautiful tea plants and perfect leaf buds.

This is the fifth year we’ve sourced White Dragonwell from this tea garden. The northerly latitude and higher elevation of this garden mean the harvest is later to sprout, and sprouts more sporadically than lower elevation gardens. Because of this, our method for selecting this tea is to cup several pickings - some earlier, and some later - and select the one that best combines the textural, aromatic, and taste properties that we look for in our teas. We are not necessarily tied to arbitrary date and time stamps, relying instead on the quality and character of the tea to guide our selection.

There are 30,000 buds in 500g of tea. Each batch was carefully roasted in 3 stages. First, the tea was fired to stop further enzymatic breakdown; it was then pressed and shaped, and finally pan-roasted to dry. The entire production process took 40 minutes to complete.

The finished result is sublime. To cup this tea is to experience a green that will reset your expectations of what quality is for a green tea. The texture is incredible; luscious and viscous, while at the same time, delicate and bright.

Brew: 3 grams・150 ml・185° F・1 min

Few Dragonwells have the same round texture as this harvest. Our brew guidelines, followed strictly, will produce a tea that best expresses this tea's texture and mouth feel. We suggest pre-warming the tea brewing vessel, but avoid rinsing the leaves themselves. Instead, slowly pour water onto the leaves to ensure that each leaf is properly pre-moistened.

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