Just a few weeks after reviewing Chicago Tea Garden’s Golden Bi Lo, I turn to Teas Etc’s Bi Lo Chun Reserve, a delightful green tea with a remarkable nose.

Bi Lo Chun is a specialty of tea makers in Jiangsu Province, China. This particular sample from Teas Etc (a free sample, by the way) features lovely white downy leaves, indicating that the leaves were harvested at a young age.

Teas Etc’s notes on this tea suggest that the aroma is “unassuming”, while Mary Lou and Robert Heiss describe Bi Lo Chun’s aroma as “deceptively soft and mild”, yet I find that this tea has a remarkable dry aroma of rich dark chocolate. It’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of drinking this tea.

Given the sweetness of the dry aroma, it’s surprising how little sweetness there is to the flavour. This is a very savoury tea, with strong notes of vegetal flavours and a milder hint of something like sweet potato or yam. There is a little bit of astringent bite to the tea, but it’s nicely balanced (provided you don’t oversteep it).

The Story of Tea describes Bi Lo Chun as the Darjeeling of green teas ? they have that briskness and demanding character of Darjeeling teas, but they’re well worth the effort. I’m inclined to agree. You need to take special care not to oversteep this tea, or its astringency will make it nasty, but if you’re careful enough it’s a rewarding, unique and delicate tea.

Bi Lo Chun is available from Teas Etc.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | Bi Lo Chun Reserve from Teas Etc | No comment |
Post categories: Green tea, Tea reviews
Post tags: Bi Lo Chun, Pi Lo Chun, Teas Etc