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DMDQ’s Dragon Well

Dragon Well by DMDQ
Green Tea / Straight
$7.27 for 200g

First Impressions

Another week, another impulse grocery store tea aisle purchase!

DMDQ’s Dragon Well came in a cardstock carton that’s taped closed. Inside, is a vacuum sealed foil package of 200g of tea. The foil packet itself is tightly bunched up, because of the sealing method. Dragon Well comes from China, but there’s little other information on the packaging in regards to where specifically.

That said, Dragon Well is a classic Chinese green tea. I’ve reviewed multiple dragonwell teas before (it’s also known as Long Jing), and I really bought this because it was a great deal in terms of dollar per gram (3.6¢ per gram) and wanted to know if it would be a potential tea cupboard staple because I really enjoy drinking dragonwell, but also like saving money if I can. The leaves themselves are flat, long-ish. I found that a lot of leaves aren’t full pieces, I found a lot of broken leaf pieces in the spoonful that I got out of the packet. The colour is green, a mix of mid to dark greens with a dusty texture to the leaves. It does have a grassy smell that I’ve come to anticipate when it comes to Chinese green teas, so it does have the right aroma.

Preparation

I couldn’t find steeping instructions on the packaging, at least not in English or anything that the Google Translate identified as being steeping instructions.

That said, I opted to use the green tea setting on my kettle (175°F/80°C) and did an initial steep of Dragon Well for 2 minutes. If you’re ever in a similar situation, you can check out my chart of tea steeping times and temperatures for a general steeping guide.

First Taste

Dragon Well steeps to a green-yellow colour, and I found that there was a lot of dust that settled at the bottom of my tea cup. I wasn’t surprised, given at how dusty the tea leaves were before I had began to steep the Dragon Well. The aroma of the leaves is grassy, and just slightly sweet. I found the flavour of the Dragon Well to be sweet, grassy, and there’s a mild amount of umami in the background. There was no bitterness or astringency with the initial steep of 2 minutes.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dragon Well twice, adding an additional 30 seconds to each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour stayed consistent and was just a bit weaker. The leaves themselves are, unsurprisingly, pieces of leaves rather than full leaves as I’m used to seeing in other long jing teas.

My Overall Impression

I liked DMDQ’s Dragon Well. I was mildly impressed at the flavour that these leaves were able to produce in my cup of tea. I had hoped that the tea would be a higher quality, but given the price I’m not terribly disappointed. That said, if you prefer a tea with less dust, then this isn’t the one for you. But as a lower priced Dragon Well, it certainly fits the bill for a green tea that I won’t mind sharing a lot or steeping large pitchers to have iced this summer.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Is It a Good Deal? Thoughts on Matcha

Matcha is green tea that has been ground to a fine powder. With history that tracks back to Tang dynasty of China, the more familiar matcha that you may know and love is from Japan. You may have tried matcha from your favourite local coffee shop in the form of a matcha latte, or ordered a flavoured matcha blend from an online retailer.

In your search for a matcha to buy for your very own, you’ll find that companies often give their matcha names like ceremonial or culinary grade. While not standardized, these names can really be provided to any matcha sold by anyone. That said, often times a culinary grade matcha is lower in quality while a ceremonial grade matcha should be higher in quality. Culinary grade matcha should also be cheaper, due to the lower quality.

I won’t make much comment on matcha blends – they should be considerably cheaper than pure matcha options available to you because of all the additives (sugars, flavourings, powdered milk, preservatives, etc.). However, these can also be delicious and I am still on the search for a great instant latte option.

Signs of a good quality matcha:

Spring-green in colour
Very fine powder
Has an umami flavour, not bitter
Forms a layer of froth easily

Signs of a poor quality matcha:

Yellow-green in colour
Clumpy powder
Often bitter
Forms a layer of large bubbles, instead of froth

All good quality matcha should come from Japan, and also be ideally single origin in nature. It can come in either sealed foil packets or tins, with appropriate labelling. While matcha has been deemed a “super food” and can be found in a lot of grocery stores, matcha is not going to be as high quality compared to matcha purchased from specialty tea stores (brick and mortar or online). Quality doesn’t come cheap though! A good benchmark is ~$1CAD per gram – that $9.99 tin of 250g of matcha might seem like a great deal, until you realize it’s incredibly bitter and doesn’t even work well in cookies.

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Dessert by Deb’s Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie

Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie by Dessert by Deb
Rooibos / Flavoured

Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie came to me as part of the bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb.

First Impressions

A bit late to the party (whoops!) with this part of Dessert by Deb’s Bed & Breakfast Holiday Inn tisane blend, so I wasn’t able to get the price of it off of the website (likely either a seasonal offering only, or discontinued). If it is seasonal and back later, the general pricing for most blends is $6.75 for 25g.

Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie comes in a rich brown metallic pouch that is sealed and resealable, with a colourful polka dot label across the front of it. This is a rooibos blend which consists of organic: rooibos, peppermint, Canadian maple, coconut, spearmint, pink and blue cornflowers. It’s a very pretty blend, the cornflower petals honestly adds such gorgeous pops of colour throughout the blend. I primarily smell the mint (peppermint and spearmint are in this blend), as well as a background of rooibos (that sweet, medicinal aroma). It definitely reminds me of mint!

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie for 5 minutes.

Dessert by Deb also recommends to prepare Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie as a latte. I tried it plain (hot) first, and then added milk to it.

First Taste

Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie steeps to a deep reddish orange. There’s a strong mint aroma from it. It reminds me simply of a peppermint tisane, rather than a rooibos blend, because the mint is a very strong ingredient and greatly overpowers the other ingredients when it comes to the aroma of the steeped tisane. Taste wise, I found that I could taste the mint, as well as the rooibos. The rooibos was surprisingly stronger than I had anticipated, especially compared to the aroma of the drink. I can taste a light sweetness, hints of coconut, but mostly the medicinal quality of the rooibos and the mint from the peppermint and spearmint that’s present in the blend. The aftertaste on my tongue is the mint though, thankfully.

I did add some milk to the cup, and found that I could find the coconut a bit easier and the rooibos a bit less – so making it as a latte was definitely a win for me.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie, but found that the flavour was primarily rooibos so I didn’t enjoy it. If you’re a rooibos fan, you’ll likely enjoy a resteep of Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie more than me.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Dessert by Deb’s Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie was just okay. As a person who isn’t a fan of rooibos, I’m a terrible judge of rooibos blends. I’m the first person to admit that I don’t like rooibos and I find it to have a strange medicinal quality that I just don’t like. That said, I think Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie has some redeeming qualities for me. I like the mint and the sweetness from the Canadian maple. It has a great mint aroma to it, and I think those who are looking for a light, tummy settling blend would enjoy this blend (especially if you’re a fan of rooibos). If you’re not a huge fan of rooibos, I would highly recommend preparing it as a latte because it helps temper down that medicinal quality of the rooibos base.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.