Long Jing is a so-called "tribute" specialty tea, and was therefore originally a special tea which would have been reserved for the Emperor. Even today, this green tea is still one of the most exclusive varieties of tea in the world. This specialty tea's name, which means "dragon's well," originally comes from an area of cultivation near the old imperial city of Hangzhou. Very close by, there is a small village in which there is a well. According to legend, long ago, a dragon a climbed out of it, so that the village and the well have been called "Long Jing" or "Dragon's Well" ever since. Nowadays, while the tea may be cultivated in other regions, real Long Jing may only be gotten from tea shrubs which grow on the steep slopes in the area of Hangzhou. What makes this green tea unique is that it is exclusively picked and processed by hand. Right from the very beginning during the harvest, a strict sorting of leaves takes place. The tea pickers only collect buds from the tea shrubs which have up to two leaves and a length of one and a half centimeters at the very most. Due to the low number of buds which the pickers collect per day (two to three kilograms) the yearly harvest yields amount to only a few tons. Drying the leaves occurs at room temperature. Then, the tea leaves are roasted twice in a cast-iron pan. To give the tea its characteristic flat and compressed form, the workers gently press the buds together. The finished tea will pamper the palettes of connoisseurs with its sweet, nutty flavor, and the smell of roast chestnuts will waft throughout the room as you brew it.
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