One of our first green tea specials was this Longjing (Lung Ching) Kombucha.
Longjing is one of our favorite teas, and we enjoy drinking it, right after first harvests.
So what exactly is this Longjing tea?
Longjing (龍井茶) tea is also known as Lung Ching tea (Dragon Well tea).
It is a pan-roasted green tea that comes from the are of the village of Longjing, near Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, China. It is produced mostly by hand and renowned for its high quality,...
(more here)
It was the Tea of the Emperors.
The real Longjing can very expensive, and it comes in six different quality grades with Superior being the highest, and then grades 1 to 5.
The characteristic of this tea is the flat leaf shape, as well as very pronounced chestnut flavor, which is the result of pan-roasting.
Longjing has a great legend. We'll quote the Wikipedia on this:
"Longjing tea was granted the status of Gong Cha, or imperial tea, in the Qing dynasty by the Kangxi Emperor. According to the legend,[3] The Kangxi Emperor's grandson, the Qianlong Emperor, visited West Lake during one of his famous holidays. He went to the Hu Gong Temple under the Lion Peak Mountain (Shi Feng Shan) and was presented with a cup of Longjing tea. In front of the Hu Gong Temple were 18 tea bushes. The Qianlong Emperor was so impressed by the Longjing tea produced here that he conferred these 18 tea bushes special imperial status. The trees are still living and the tea they produce is auctioned annually for higher price per gram than gold. There is another legend connecting the Qianlong Emperor to Longjing tea. It is said that while visiting the temple he was watching the ladies picking the tea. He was so enamored with their movements that he decided to try it himself. While picking tea he received a message that his mother, Empress Dowager Chongqing, was ill and wished his immediate return to Beijing. He shoved the leaves he had picked into his sleeve and immediately left for Beijing. Upon his return he immediately went to visit his mother. She noticed the smell of the leaves coming from his sleeves and he immediately had it brewed for her....Longjing, which literally translates as "dragon well," is said to have named after a well that contains relatively dense water, and after rain the lighter rainwater floating on its surface sometimes exhibits a sinuous and twisting boundary with the well water, which is supposed to resemble the movement of a Chinese dragon."
Obviously, Longjing can vary in quality, as well as in price. Some of the West Lake Longjings that we have enjoyed during our tea ceremonies, are simply too expensive for Kombucha.
Especially the ones that go for about $1,000 per kg. Like the one pictured below.
The tea that we use for our special, as well as for our Jun Kombucha, is processed using Longjing tea techniques.
It tastes really good, and it has very nice and pronounced floral notes, with a bit of chestnut flavor.
Although, not a true Longjing, it is of higher quality than a lot of other green teas.
And green tea on its own, besides the good taste, can also have many health benefits.
Here are just some of them put together by DrJockers.com:
We've been making Longjing Kombucha, as a special, for quite some time now.
Here are some vintage pics from few years back.
And a more recent one.
Ingredients: Filtered and Revitalized Water, Live Kombucha Cultures, Unrefined Brown Sugar, and Longjing Green Tea
Disclaimer: All medical information in this post is merely information & not advise. If you need medical advice, please consult your doctor or other appropriate medical professional.