Imperial Grade Pure Bud Bi Luo Chun Green Tea

Spring 2023 harvest: I also purchased what I believe is lower grade of this tea – I’m not sure, because the website doesn’t spell it out – but I believe the “Yunnan Green Spring Snail Bi Luo Chun Green Tea” is lower grade of this same tea? Anyways, these two teas are much more similar than different. I love the aroma of both teas, with a strong peanut butter-like scent unlike any other tea I have experienced. Very nutty green tea!

This higher grade seems to have more prominent vegetal notes, however, with asparagus being prominent in smell and taste, rather than the lighter “grassy” notes in the the lower grade of tea. Absolutely lovely tea! Another great one from Yunnan Sourcing!

I’m not sure whether I prefer the lower grade or the higher grade at the moment, so I am scoring both the same and will continue sipping on the two until I can decide. Probably will adjust my scores one way or another.

If only they would offer some great ginseng oolong teas, I think I could find everything I need at Yunnan Sourcing. I’m pretty certain that next time I order I will pick up a bit of puerh, because I also enjoy those teas once in a while, and it really seems to be their “main thing.” They have such a wonderful selection of almost every type of tea, though. I know I am gushing like some kind of paid shill for Yunnan Sourcing, but they really do have an awesome thing going on there, with loads of interesting teas available at reasonable prices. The only catch is the hassle and expense of shipping from China, but you can avoid that if you choose to purchase through the separate “US” website, at least if you are a US customer.

Another store I was mad-impressed with is Silk Road Teas (the San Franscisco-based company, not the Canadian one) – I think they have one of the best selections of Chinese teas, and I haven’t placed an order with them since the early days of my tea obsession. I really need to revisit them soon. Between Yunnan Sourcing and Silk Road Teas, I have my two favorites.

This green tea has quite a distinctive profile. Even though I wouldn’t drink it often, when I am craving it, there’s not many others that could give a similar experience.

From the dry leaves, the aromas are a mix of sawdust, hay, various flowers, peach and bacon. On top of that, I also get a garden peas and a very light dill note.

The taste of the first steep is very delicate and crisp. The dominant impression is sweet, peppery one. The closest flavour I can compare it to is that of green bell pepper. Second infusion is more salty and astringent. Flavours of grass and swiss chard also appear. The third steep has more of the smokiness, originally present mostly in the smell. It has notes of cooked ham and bay leaf and a sweet nectar-like finish.

The aftertaste changes a lot, from one infusion to another as well as over time. Generally, it is quite sweet, spicy, sour and expansive. One of the highlights of the tea is its texture, which is very soft, coating and viscous.

One last note before I finish off this 50g pouch in the coming days.

In addition to the southern style green beans made with ham hock, a dash of black pepper, spring grass and gardenias in the air, with longer steep times I’m pulling out a fresh yellow peach in the nose and mouth.

The impression I’m getting is a summer gathering with little girls running around in white dresses on the Georgia coastline, and a cooling marine breeze to trick you into thinking it’s not as warm as it is.

Sampler Sipdown September! I’m trying out the other Bi Lou Chun I was gifted from Derk, thanks so much Derk! I’m attempting to do this gong fu style, using my shiboridashi, though I’m only using half its capacity since I don’t feel like drinking two cuppas on each infusion, which comes out to about 70-75ml of liquid per infusion. Therefore I measured out my leaf keeping that amount of liquid in mind, and will still have enough of my sampler left to get to try this a few other ways, as well. Woot.

Gong fu / 2.2g /175F / 70ml / 30s|45s|60s|80s|90s|120s

On the first steep I got an aroma of green beans and anise, and the flavor was very in line with that; it was highly vegetal, with a strong savory bean taste containing notes of green beans and peapods, with a hint of anise spice on the finish. My second and third steeps brought out a much stronger anise aroma, and suddenly the tea smelled like a savory cooked meat, like a seasoned porked or bacon! Maybe my senses are just off because I’m on day three of a migraine attack, and that is entirely possible, but… I’m also tasting savory, peppery cooked bacon. And I have no complaints about that. Who doesn’t love bacon!? (Apologies to my Vegan BFF, but we all know you call yourselves Vegans because you are actually from a planet in the Vega star system, and therefore are aliens, not humans. Ya, we’re all onto you. I’m talking about actual humans here). On the fourth steep the aroma is more peppery, and the flavor turned more vegetal, a bit like watery greens, with just a bit of a floral sweetness, and then right at the finish a mixed pepper/anise spice note comes out on the back of the tongue. The fifth and sixth steeps were very sweet and floral, with subtle honey and gardenia notes and a bit minerally. It felt like the tea was weakening by that point so I didn’t push it any further.

Western / 1.9g / 175F / 370ml / 2m|2m30s

The western brew is very sweet and floral, with a slight watery vegetal/green bean note toward the finish, and a very subtle hint of anise at the finish. The strong spice note I was getting before isn’t present, and the sweet flowery taste that only came out at the very end of the session is present right from the start. This is still fine with the more delicate flavor, but since I really liked that spiced bacon flavor mid-session, this is one I prefer gong fu style… because again, bacon! Since my leaves hadn’t fully unfurled in one western infusion I did resteep this just to see if a second infusion brought out any differences. The leaves were fully extended by this point, and the cup had a much stronger and less delicate overall profile, but I still tasted a honeyed/floral top note with a vegetal/beany finish. Very smooth, no bitterness, and a mild drying/astringent feel to the tongue after the sip.