Our Bi Luo Chun is from Dong Ting mountain next to China's 4th largest lake. When dry the tea has a small, rolled up shape to it, with a fine covering of silvery white pekoe, especially at the leaf tips. One amazing fact with this tea, due to only the small leaf tips being used, is that 1 pound of the tea (about 500g) will contain about 70,000 leaf tips.
Unlike most other green teas, Bi Luo Chun can only be infused 2 or 3 times. Any more than that and it looses its fruity aroma and taste. However we do strongly encourage you to infuse it a few times, as its color, aroma and taste will subtly change each time, as the balance between the absorbed fruit flavour and the natural green tea flavour changes.
Brief Health Info
Being a non-fermented green tea, Bi Luo Chun has high levels of antioxidants and other natural chemicals that give green teas their ability to reduce the incidence of cancer, promote good skin tone and help reduce the affects of aging. Also high in vitamin C, fluoride and calcium, they also promote healthy teeth and bones.
For more information on the health benefits of Green teas, take a look at our article on Tea Health benefit.
How to make Bi Luo Chun tea
Bi Luo Chun should only be brewed in clean, mineral free, water around 176 ºF (80 ºC). It is best when initially brewed for 1 minutes, and can be infused 2 or 3 times, with the taste and aroma changing each time.
It is best brewed directly in a white ceramic cup or clear glass. Having a rich covering of white “pekoe” downy hairs, Bi Luo Chun can be brewed by adding the water before the dry tea. After adding the tea, the downy pekoe covering will slowly unfold, and give the leaves a look like a slowly sinking snowflake.
For more information on some of the skills and arts of brewing tea, check out our article on How To Make Bi Luo Chun Green Tea.
Where is our Bi Luo Chun green tea produced
Our Bi Luo Chun is from Fuding, Fujian. They use the tea source from Dong Ting area, which is the origin place of Bi Luo Chun, and an area surrounded by high, forested mountains with a mild, wet climate – a perfect tea growing environment!
History
Bi Luo Chun tea originated in the area around the eastern peak of Dong Ting mountain in Jiangsu. In Chinese the name Bi Luo Chun means green snail Spring, in reference to its tight rolled up appearance resembling a snail and the fact that it is picked in Spring. It was given this name during the Qing Dynasty by the then emperor, Kang Xi, who very much favoured the tea, but – perhaps with some reason – was not really enamoured with its original name of “Xia sha ren xiang”, which roughly means “scare you to death fragrance”.
During the 1890's it was ranked first amongst Chinese green teas, and since that time has always been ranked in the top three. For many years it was only grown in the area around Mt. Dong Ting, but has recently also been produced in Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces. However the best Bi Luo Chun continues to be produced in the original mountain area of Dong Ting, which is where we visited before deciding on which tea to offer to you.
