This green tea is pan-fried, not steamed. That distinction—between pan fixation (as done in China) and steam fixation (typical in Japan)—is the key to the difference in flavor between the world’s two major green tea traditions. Much like the contrast between pan-fried and steamed dumplings, the contact with hot metal in Dragon Well tea adds a subtle Maillard reaction, lending it a delicate toasty, nutty undertone without becoming a fully roasted tea.

In China, Dragon Well (Long Jing) is not just a tea—it’s the most famous green tea of all, with a legacy that runs deep in both imperial history and modern tea culture. What makes our version unique is what we call the “Original” Dragon Well: a reference not just to the traditional process, but also to the origin legend surrounding it.

While the Wikipedia story tells of Emperor Qianlong and the famous 18 Dragon Well trees near West Lake, our version traces its roots to a lesser-known village—a stop earlier in Qianlong’s journey. According to our friend A Hua, who grows and processes our tea, his village once hosted 20 original tea trees, said to be among the first visited by the emperor. When the trees were later transplanted closer to West Lake, two didn’t survive the move. No one can definitively prove the full truth of these old Chinese tales, but we’ve done our research—and this story remains not only probable, but also deeply woven into the identity of the tea we craft.

Our “Original Dragon Well” is therefore more than just a name—it’s a tribute to heritage, to quiet villages with imperial echoes, and to artisans like A Hua who preserve the legacy leaf by leaf.