Bi Lo Chun is one of the most beloved Chinese spring green teas. Chosen as a Tribute Tea by the Kangxi emperor in the Qing dynasty, Bi Lo Chun is a very tiny, bud-pluck tea, named for its deep green color and the idea that its curled bud shape is reminiscent of the shape of a small snail.
Many counterfeit ‘Bi Lo Chun’ teas are made in other tea regions of China where hand shaping skills can reproduce the look of almost any other Chinese tea. But the original manufacture, which ours is, comes from the protected environment of Dong Ting Mt. situated at the edge of Tai Lake, and has a unique taste that cannot be duplicated.
Once again this season we have the 250gram, paper-wrapped option, which is the ‘original’ packaging, and how tea customers purchase this Famous Tea in China. We will have several teas in this traditional packaging in our selection for 2021.
Our Bi Lo Chun was plucked in mid-March 2021, so is a true PQM tea, comprised of pure spring buds that are a lovely jumble of mottled dark green and downy white buds, a sure sign of an early pluck. Once plucking begins, the size of the leaf changes quickly. There are at least five plucks of Bi Lo Chun: two or three in March (weather dependent) and two in April. Bi Lo Chun plucked in April morphs into a leaf-and-bud plucked tea (a mao jian pluck) and it loses both the appearance and sweetness that define the character of the earlier plucks.
Bi Lo Chun has structure, depth & finesse in the cup. Its thirst-quenching taste is soft, both flowery and slightly fruity, with a clean, sweet aftertaste. The aroma is pervasive, fresh, and sweetly herbaceous.
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