Xue Long Snow Dragon

Xue Long Snow Dragon is a wonderfully light tea from Fujian Province in China. Twisted green and silver buds produce a pale gold liquor with a faint fruity aroma that is somewhere between green and white in character. The tea is mild and smooth with sweet, crisp, sparkly notes of peaches and grapes.

Brewing guide: 2.5g in 250ml water at 80°C for 2-3 minutes

£2.50£8.50

(10-50g)

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Origin:Fuding, Fujian Province
Elevation:800-900m
Cultivar:Fuding Da Hao 'Large Sprout' (福鼎大毫)
Harvest time:April 2021
Sourcing:Direct from Producer in Fujian Province

Description

Xue Long Snow Dragon (雪龙) is an intriguing tea that straddles the line between white and green types of tea with a balanced flavour that has the best of both worlds. It is grown at an altitude of 800-900m at a fully organic tea garden in Fuding, Fujian Province and we source it directly from the producer. This hand plucked and processed Xue Long Snow Dragon green tea is from April 2021 harvest.

Xue Long Snow Dragon is made from a white tea cultivar Fuding Da Hao (福鼎大毫 – Fuding Large Sprout) but is processed like a green tea. This dual heritage is reflected in its name. Xue (雪), meaning Snow, refers to the white hairs on the tea leaves, similar to Xue Ya Snow Bud White Tea. Long (龙), meaning Dragon, refers to the green tea aspect of processing and inadvertently references the famous Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea.

The twisted dry green and silver leaves have a faint fruity aroma and do not make it evident at the outset that Xue Long Snow Dragon green tea is made from leaf buds. This becomes clear once you steep the leaves and the beautiful buds fully unfurl.

The brewed liquor is very light and has a pale gold champagne-like colour with a light aroma. The taste is supremely balanced, truly taking the best of white and green tea characters. The flavours are light but more pronounced when compared to a white tea. At the same time, it does not exhibit any strong common green tea characteristics, so there are no overbearing vegetal or grassy flavours or any pronounced astringency. Xue Long Snow Dragon is a perfect green tea to try if you are finding other green teas too ‘green’ tasting or astringent.

The predominant characteristics of this tea revolve around bright yet mellow flavours. The taste is brisk and sweet with sparkly notes of white grapes and peaches. A very refreshing tea that would make an excellent cold brew in the hot summer months!

We suggest brewing parameters of 80°C for 2-3 minutes according to your taste, brewing 3 or more times. You can also experiment with lower temperatures and longer brewing times to bring out more sweetness from this tea. Also try brewing it cold by putting 10g into 1l of water and leaving it in a fridge overnight.

This Xue Long Snow Dragon green tea was first featured in our August 2016 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.