What is the correct way to brew Longjing tea?

Longjing tea looks flat, the emerald green color is full of vitality, it smells fragrant and mellow, and when you soak Longjing tea in a cup, the tea leaves look beautiful. There are some particularities to brewing Longjing. First of all, you have to choose good tea sets. You can use pure water to brew it, or you can use mountain spring water. Do not use boiling water to brew tea. It is best to use water at 80 degrees Celsius. What is the correct way to brew Longjing? Let’s take a look at it next.

1. Tea Set

High-quality Longjing tea, transparent glass, kettle, water pitcher, water ladle, spring appreciation cup, tea tray, teaspoon, etc. Purified water or spring water (Nongfu Spring is a good choice. Repeated boiling will reduce the oxygen content in the water and affect the taste of the tea).

2. How to brew Longjing tea

1. Yi Nong Longjing: Upward Throwing Method

Longjing tea leaves are flat, tender, neatly shaped, uniform in width, green-yellow in color, smooth to the touch, with one bud and one or two leaves. Prepare a transparent glass cup (in this case, the cup size is about 200ml), put in an appropriate amount of boiling water of appropriate temperature, and add about 5 grams of Longjing tea leaves.

Wait for the Longjing tea leaves to sink one by one, and appreciate their graceful appearance slowly revealed. The tea leaves in the cup gradually stretch out, one flag at a time, floating up and down, and the clear green soup is vividly visible.

If you appreciate it more carefully, you will find it is truly an artistic enjoyment! Although I can already taste it, I still can't let it go and take another look at it.

2. Ernong Longjing: Mid-pitching method

Prepare a transparent glass cup (in this case, the size of the cup is about 200ml), first put about one-third of warm water into it, add about 5 grams of Longjing tea leaves, and wait for the tea leaves to slowly expand.

After the tea leaves have expanded, fill the pot with boiling water. You can drink it now! But I still can’t let her go. Let me take a few more glances at her.

3. Sannong Longjing: Downward Pour Method

Prepare a porcelain cup with a lid (in this case, the size is about 150ml), warm the cup, and put in an appropriate amount of Longjing tea. Add a little warm water, pick up the brewing cup, shake it slowly to make the tea leaves completely wet, and let the tea leaves expand naturally.

After the tea leaves expand slightly, add 90% boiling water and wait for the tea leaves to dissolve into tea soup. Use the cup lid to stir the tea soup slightly so that the tea leaves can be dissolved more evenly, then pour it into a small teacup and drink it.

3. Steps to brew Longjing tea

1. Warm the cup with freshly boiled water, use a teaspoon to take an appropriate amount of tea from the tea can (usually 5-7g at a time, depending on personal taste) and put it into the glass.

2. When the boiled water cools to about 85 degrees, lift the kettle high and pour in an appropriate amount of water to cover all the tea leaves.

3. Warm the tea buds: Use the "spiral water pouring method" to pour a little water into the cup, 1/4 cup is appropriate. The purpose of warming is to soak the tea buds, allowing the dry tea to absorb water and stretch, laying a good foundation for the upcoming brewing. Shake the aroma for about 30 seconds, hold the glass in your hand, and gently shake the glass in one direction to make the tea leaves moist and evenly heated.

4. Warm the cup with boiling water, pour out the water, put in the tea leaves, and then use the hanging pot high pouring method to pour boiling water until it is 90% full. The warm tea buds have already emitted a hint of fragrance. At this time, lift the kettle high and let the water pour down. Then use the strength of your wrist to lift and pull the water up and down. Repeat three times to let the tea leaves turn in the water.

5. Drinking: When you have drunk half of the tea in the cup, you can add more water. The brewing time will increase with the number of times you brew.

4. Precautions

As for water temperature, water at about 75 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees Celsius should be used. Never use boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius, because Longjing tea is unfermented tea, so the tea leaves themselves are very tender. If you use too hot water to brew tea, the tea leaves will be damaged and the bitter taste will be brewed out, affecting the taste.