Bi Luo

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Product Description:

Other Names: Hong Bi Luo, Yunnan Bi Luo

Origin: China, Yunnan Province

Harvest: Spring 2010

Taste: Creamy with sweet, malty notes of vanilla.

Behind the Leaf: David Lee Hoffman has been traveling to China for over 20 years. His work has led to vast improvements in the quality of tea available to the West. David is especially proud of this tea. Golden Bi Luo is a high-grade black tea made in Yunnan Province in the style of Jiangsu Province’s Green Bi Luo Chun. The name means “snail spring” — “spring” because this tea is harvested in the spring and “snail” because the two leaves and down-covered tips are carefully rolled into tight spirals that slowly unfurl to release more flavor during steeping. The spirals are formed in a heated wok, using three different hand movements. This tea is a master at producing multiple infusions: you can easily get eight infusions from one serving of this tea. Golden Bi Luo is a great reintroduction to loose black tea. Whether you are looking for an alternative to coffee or are just getting started with loose leaf and are ready to ditch your tea bags, Golden Bi Luo is a wonderful choice for an everyday tea.

Taster’s Review:

Are you looking for a truly DIFFERENT black tea? You need look no further than this amazing Golden Bi Luo from Chicago Tea Garden. This tea has such an intriguing flavor – it keeps me sipping!

This tea has a very nice malty quality to it. There is a baked biscuit-y flavor to it which gives it real substance. This is a hefty tea!

About mid-sip, I taste a hint of vanilla (as the above description suggests) – it is a very heavy, heady kind of vanilla taste that when brought together with the malty note it creates a wonderful experience for the palate. Sweet, almost creamy, and thick! Yes … thick! There is also a background note of bitter that provides an excellent contrast to the sweetness of this cup. The cleansing astringency in the finish prepares the palate for another sip.

These “snails” or spirals of tea also submit several delicious infusions. With each infusion the flavor seems to develop into a smoother, richer experience. I managed three very flavorful infusions from one measurement of leaves!

This is a fantastic black tea that I would recommend to all tea enthusiasts. A MUST try tea!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea