My fellow tea blogger, Tony Gebely of World of Tea is starting Chicago Tea Garden, an online tea store that’s just days away from launching. He sent me samples of two of his teas a few weeks ago, one of which is this Golden Bi Luo, a rare black tea from Yunnan Province, China.

Golden Bi Luo is made in the style of Bi Luo Chun, a green tea that is the specialty of tea makers in Jiangsu Province. Like Bi Luo Chun, Golden Bi Luo is rolled into little balls, but it has a lovely golden tint. This tea scores very highly on the attractiveness scale. It’s beautiful to behold.

The tea infuses into a very subtle little black tea, with a mild nuttiness and sweeter notes, like caramel. Something about it reminds me of a first flush Darjeeling, though I can’t quite place what.

Like many fine black teas, this one can easily be re-steeped for multiple infusions. I’ve been experimenting with preparing it in a gaiwan, with two small spoons of leaves; on the first infusion, I give it about a minute, and then allow about a minute and a half on the second and 3-5 minutes on the third. As with any steeping directions, one piece of advice holds true above all others: experiment.

As I said, Chicago Tea Garden hasn’t opened its doors yet, but if you’re based in the area, be sure to get on their mailing list. When it’s available, the Golden Bi Luo will be sold at $12.99 per 50 grams.

Update: Chicago Tea Garden has now launched! You can order Golden Bi Luo here.

Browse more tea from Yunnan Province in the Tea Finely Brewed marketplace.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | Golden Bi Luo from Chicago Tea Garden | No comment |
Post categories: Black tea, Tea reviews
Post tags: bi luo chun, Chicago Tea Garden, golden bi luo, Yunnan