Dongting Biluochun Green tea Grade One

This was another of my July sipdowns. I recall finishing my sample pouch of this tea (generously provided at no cost to me by AprTea in exchange for this review) immediately after finishing the last of the Xi Hu Long Jing that I received from AprTea. Of the two, this was the weaker offering in my eyes, but I should also note that I am not and have never been the biggest fan of Jiangsu Biluochun. They always seem delicate and pleasant but lacking in staying power to me.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 176 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of sweet corn, hay, sugarcane, grass, and pineapple. After the rinse, new aromas of asparagus, zucchini, malt, and straw appeared. The first infusion introduced a slight honey scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of sweet corn, hay, malt, straw, grass, and zucchini that were balanced by hints of sugarcane, cream, butter, soybean, and vegetable broth-like umami. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of plum, seaweed, butter, umami, peas, parsley, and grilled lemon. Stronger and more immediate butter, umami, soybean, and cream notes appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging asparagus notes and impressions of minerals, seaweed, spinach, kale, and parsley. I also detected delicate hints of grilled lemon, plum, garden peas, honey, and pineapple. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, grass, hay, butter, sweet corn, umami, and malt notes that were underscored by hints of garden peas, grilled lemon, sugarcane, straw, zucchini, and seaweed.

Like the comparatively few other Jiangsu Biluochun green teas I have tried, this one was pleasant, but it did not strike me as being all that distinctive. Had I not written detailed notes so that I could post this review, I likely would have forgotten that I had ever tried this tea. That’s not really a knock on it specifically; I’m just not a huge fan of this type of green tea. At this point, all I can say is that I did not find this tea to be bad, and I am certainly glad I got the opportunity to try it, but it wasn’t for me. I guess Jiangsu Biluochun is just something on which I’m not likely to come around anytime soon.

I got a box from a teafriend last night, hooty hooo. Thanks Togo!

Really nice looking leaf. Unfortunately, for me this wasn’t a prelude of things to come.

I prepared this western with 3.5g, 8oz water, 175F and 2 steeps of 1m15 and 2m.

In the wet leaf after the first steep, I could smell mostly umami broth with some anise and sugar cookie or maybe it’s just an anise cookie :P The aroma of the liquor was identical which was pleasing. In the mouth, it was medium-bodied but terribly astringent and lacked much flavor. Some zucchini and nuttiness with a very faint aftertaste of buttery nuts, like macadamia. There was also a persistent tartness emanating from the throat. The second steep was nearly the same, albeit with a little more flavor including anise and some vague fruitiness. I’m not sure if it was more astringent or if the first steep totally dried my mouth out. If it had just a hint of sweetness, I’d be inclined to rate it higher. Might make a good cold brew or do well grandpa but I won’t be seeking out more in order to try.

This tea needed a good amount of leaf to water ratio to coax out the fruitiness but was a decent cup. Fruity & nutty.

This tea mostly has fairly standard Chinese green tea characteristics, but with better mouthfeel.

The smell is similar to longjing – nutty and a little floral, but more fruity. The taste is brothy, vegetal and fruity. In terms of flavours I can pick up some grapes and courgette. Overall, it is fairly light and crisp tasting, medium-bodied with nice thick and oily mouthfeel that gets a bit astringent in the finish. In the aftertaste, there are some sour flavours emerging as well. The feeling in the throat is warming for a while after drinking the tea.