Dragonwell / Lung Ching - Extra Fine Green Tea 8 oz

Green tea from the Chinese village of Dragon Well (Lung Ching). Dragon Well tea has a distinguished shape. Its leaves are broad and flat a result of laborious drying. There is something to show for this hard work: Dragon Well tea is refreshingly smooth sweet and delicate among the very best of Chinese greens. Dragon Well is produced by hand through a 10 part process. The tea used to produce Dragon Well is grown by the side of West Lake in Zhejiang Province. Dragon Well is distinguished by its beautiful shape emerald colour scented smell and tending sweet floral character. In China mists and fog often compensate of insufficient rainfall at the same time cloaking the gardens in secrecy. Here tea is produced according to ancient time-tested methods and workers perform all tasks by hand just like their ancestors. The tea leaves that become Dragonwell are plucked before the Clear Light Festival or at the least before the spring rains have fallen. The choicest come from a part of the mountain called Lion’s Peak. where plucking takes place before each tender shoot has more than one leaf. Legend has it that in 250 AD a Taoist monk affirmed that there must be a dragon lurking in a certain spring not far from Hangchow. The monk implored the well dragon to come to the rescue of the poor farmers suffering a crippling drought. Instantly the clouds came rushing in from every side and poured forth a timely rain. The tea derives its name from this legend. This is loose green tea not bagged. One pound is the equivalent of approximately 200 tea bags. Green tea should be steeped in very hot but not boiling water. Boiling water will scorch the delicate flavor rendering it bitter. Green tea comes mainly from China Japan Taiwan and to a lesser degree India. The critical difference between green and black tea is that green tea leaves are not allowed to ferment. Green tea is instead steamed rolled and fired. Green tea is the natural dried leaves of the tea plant Camellia sinensis. Black tea is oxidized green tea. The phrase 'Black Tea' is also used as a generic name for all Camelia sinensis teas. The major Black Tea types from the traditional black tea evergeen (Camellia sinensis) classified according to processing method include: fermented or black tea producing an amber-coloured full-flavoured beverage without bitterness; semi-fermented or oolong producing a slightly bitter light brownish-green liquid; and unfermented or green tea resulting in a mild slightly bitter pale greenish-yellow beverage. Tea contains only four calories per cup when consumed without added ingredients but is a source of several B-complex vitamins including B2 and nicotinic acid. Caffeine is responsible for tea's stimulating effect. Flavor is produced by volatile oils and astringency and color by tannin. Black teas are classified by geographical origin and the size of the processed leaf. Traditional operations result in larger leafy grades and smaller broken grades. The leafy grades are flowery pekoe (FP) orange pekoe (OP) pekoe (P) pekoe souchong (PS) and souchong (S). BOP=Broken Orange pekoe; FOP=Flowery Orange Pekoe; TGFOP-Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe; FTGFOP=Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. Green tea is not graded similar to black tea but classified according to age style of the leaf and manufacture e.g. Gunpowder Pan-fired Young Hysson Bancha etc. Since green tea unlike black and oolong tea is not fermented the active constituents remain unaltered in the herb. Green tea is bioflavonoid-rich proven useful for fighting free radical damage in the human body. It has a high content of polyphenols which are a class of bioflavonoids. Green tea's best studied polyphenol is Epigallocatechin Gallate. Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) protects against digestive and respiratory infections. A solution of 1 mcg per ml of EGCG heavily inhibited influenza virus in vitro. Green tea is beneficial in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease as it exerts antioxidant activity lowers cholesterol and reduces platelet aggregation (stickiness). Green tea extract is very good for the arteries and heart. Additional studies have demonstrated enhanced liver function and immune system function secondary to these polyphenols. EGCG helps block the cancer-promoting actions of carcinogens ultraviolet light and metastasis from an original site in the skin stomach small intestine liver or lung. Higher quantities (0.5% to 1% of diet) were protective against high total and LDL-cholesterol levels on a cholesterol promoting diet in rats. EGCG also reduces platelet aggregation about as much as aspirin or Ginkgo Biloba extract.