Review: Organic Green Dragon - Mighty Leaf

Type: Green
Producer: Mighty Leaf
Origin: Longjing
Brewing Parameters: 1 tea bag, boiling water, 3 min. (recommended)
Appearance: Square, nylon tea bag with a mix of light and dark green broken leaves and a few stems
Rating: A | 93/100
# of Brews: 2

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Yet another tea bag review today– in all honesty, I think I only have tea bags left to review since I've done almost all of my loose leaf and most of my money is going to public transit and all. Unlike most of these other tea bag reviews lately, however, I haven't tried this specific tea (or any Longjing) before now. Also, I know that since this is a green tea, it should not be brewed with boiling water, but the pack doesn't really specify temperature and I can't really control specifics anyway. Just as a necessity, though, I let the water sit at room temperature to cool a bit.

Anyway, onto the review. One nice thing I've noticed about Mighty Leaf teas is that they use much higher quality leaves than most other tea bag producers– for them, the leaves are either whole or broken into large chunks, rather than fannings or dust. I ended up brewing for only 1 minute instead of the recommended 3 because of the higher temperatures, and I think it turned out pretty well.

The color was a dark yellowish green (not as dark as some sencha when brewed nicely can get), with a smell of freshly cut grass and the sea (I'm guessing seaweed or just salt water). Even with the heat, it was only a slight bit bitter, which is on par with other greens. As for the taste, it was surprisingly good– I haven't had a decent green tea in a while. Surprisingly, I thought it tasted more like a Japanese green rather than Chinese, even though it was produced (pan fired) like a standard Chinese tea. A vegetal taste, similar to green beans, gave way to a sweet herbal and nutty flavor. Along with a very light tart flavor which lasted long after drinking, I think the main sensation was a short and sweet taste. The texture was unusually smooth for a Chinese green, and the only dryness I felt was deep in the back of my throat for a short amount of time. I did notice that if you let it sit, it gradually becomes more bitter over time.

For a tea bag, this was actually really good; I enjoyed it quite a bit. Now, I think I'll need to try a loose leaf Long jing before I give my final decision, but all in all, Mighty Leaf did a pretty stellar job with this. I might actually try brewing the bag one or two more times just to see if I can get more to drink.

Other Notes

Today's album is Left to Our Own Devices by Le Cassette, a surprisingly very good synthwave album, probably because of the vocals (it's very similar to Phil Collins and David Bowie) and pop beats.

Here's an update on my work for this week. I'm done with maybe 3/5 of the Comp Civics journal, 3 essays for college applications, watched most of the DNC and parts of the RNC, and have memorized quite a bit of stuff for AP Chem with flashcards. Today, I plan to finish the Comp Civics journals and maybe write current events or the writeups for the DNC and RNC. I was planning on having more time, but it turns out I'm heading to SFMOMA and maybe De Young with my friends tomorrow, and Saturday I'm going to a Comp Civics workshop and visiting the Museum of the African Diaspora (to be honest, in these past few weeks, I've been to more museums than in the past few years).

I think that if I work my ass off today and next week, I should be good for the last few weeks. If I haven't mentioned it, here is the itinerary for the last 2-3 weeks of summer:
SFMOMA & De Young with friends; Comp Civics Workshop & MOAD; Visit Santa Barbara for college visits and to pick up my brother; see Mark Redito/Spazzkid play at the DNA Lounge; go to Hawaii with the family; and watch Freq.Fest.SF.
Looking at it, it probably doesn't seem like much, but hey it's a lot for me. See you tomorrow!