bi luo chun!! i wanted to order a korean green tea, but it was currently out of stock :( by the way, i finished the book (dry) on the same day!! the photos are from almost two weeks ago and although ive been drinking tea almost everyday, i dont feel like posting anything - but that may change soon. anyway, im currently studying for a zoology exam and oh boooy, i love animals, but i hate to be forced to learn dozens of latin words that i know ill forget right after--

Biluochun is made by fried tender bud which is picked off in the spring.

In class last week we had a tasting of Bi Luo Chun, also known as Green Spring Snail Tea due to the appearance of the leaves before steeping. The tea looks like tightly rolled pieces of string, twisted and wrapped around itself with a dark green color and some white tips. It smelled a little like sweet henna and was stiff and brittle.

We managed to have three infusions of the tea, which were steeped for about 1 minute to 1 minute and 40 seconds in a bout 170 degree Fahrenheit water. The water temperature used is lower than it is for most green teas because if Bi Luo Chun is not prepared at that very specific temperature it will become too bitter. 

The first infusion had a spinach scent with a slight hint of seaweed, and looked like a blonde yellow color. The initial flavor of the tea was almost too bitter but not quite, transitioning into an unusually oxidized flavor for a green tea and ending with a distinctive buttery flavor which Bi Luo Chun tea is known for. It was also fairly astringent making your mouth feel almost dry.

The second infusion was my least favorite of the three simply because it had the least depth of the three. It smelled vaguely of spinach and was a pale yellow like before, slightly darker than the blonde yellow of the first infusion. The flavor itself was vaguely like cut grass, vaguely oxidized and was less astringent than the previous infusion. The final taste was more buttery-sweet than before as well.

The last infusion was the my favorite of the three infusion I got to taste. It smelled like spinach but had some sweeter notes which were not present in other infusions. The color of this infusion was the deepest yellow, seeming almost like honey dissolved in water. This infusion’s flavor was the least astringent of the three and was very smooth. It tasted slightly of cut grass and was the most buttery-sweet of the three. Because the last infusion was the best of the three, it made me wonder if the flavor would develop more in further infusions, but unfortunately I did not get the chance.

The tea leaves after steeping opened up and were a light yellow-green color, looking very similar to the Longjing tea I had tried earlier in the week. It smelled slightly sweet, as well as like spinach and were very soft and silky to touch. 

All in all, Bi Luo Chun is an excellent tea which I highly recommend. The buttery notes were excellent and my favorite part of the tea. The bitterness of the tea was not overwhelming as it can be in many green teas, and instead added an interesting dimension to the overall flavor profile.