Bi Luo Chun Green Tea (Pi Lo Chun)

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Green Tea
Flavors
Asparagus, Butter, Floral, Grass, Green Beans, Kale, Lilac, Melon, Narcissus, Nuts, Salty, Sweet Corn, Thick, Vegetal, Beany, Peas, Apricot, Astringent, Corn Husk, Creamy, Grain, Oats, Smooth, Soybean, Sweet, Artichoke, Citrus, Spices, Tea, Umami, Spinach, Bok Choy, Carrot, Roasted, Toasted Rice, Vegetable Broth, Fruity, Seaweed, Honeydew, Sweet, Warm Grass, Flowers, Pepper, Vegetables, Bitter, Green, Mineral, Rainforest, Kettle Corn, Cut Grass, Fruit Tree Flowers, Tangy, Lychee, Hay, Garden Peas
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by TeaVivre
Average preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 45 sec 5 g 12 oz / 358 ml

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166 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Bi Luo Chun how I love you. This review is for the spring 2014 production. When I first met this tea from Teavivre it was in January 2012, so it must have been a 2011 tea. I was blown away. This...” Read full tasting note
    91
  • “I found this sample while rooting through my tea. I have no idea how old it is and there is no date on it. I know it is much newer than the Bi Luo Chun I reviewed in the past and it seems...” Read full tasting note
  • “Having this tea this afternoon, brewed in my gaiwan in short steeps and combined into one cup. I have to say, this cup smelled really really melon-y. Almost cantaloupe, but moresoe honeydew. It’s...” Read full tasting note
    86
  • “Many thanks to Angel and Teavivre for this generous sample! I was really apprehensive about this sample because I am not the biggest fan of greens, especially straight greens, but this was really...” Read full tasting note
    90

From Teavivre

Origin: Dongting Mountain, Jiangsu, China

Ingredients: Compact rolled up buds with white tips

Taste: A fruity, bold aroma and taste

Brew: 1-2 teaspoons for 8oz of water. Brew at 176 ºF (80 ºC) for 1 minutes (exact time depends on your taste – a longer time will give the tea a stronger taste and color)

Health Benefits: Being a non-fermented green tea, Bi Luo Chun has high levels of antioxidants and other natural chemicals that give green teas their ability to reduce the incidence of cancer, promote good skin tone and help reduce the affects of aging. Also high in vitamin C, fluoride and calcium, they also promote healthy teeth and bones.

About Teavivre View company

Company description not available.

166 Tasting Notes

91
1719 tasting notes

Bi Luo Chun how I love you. This review is for the spring 2014 production.

When I first met this tea from Teavivre it was in January 2012, so it must have been a 2011 tea. I was blown away. This was a light bulb moment tea for me. I had been drinking bagged grocery store stuff prior to this. I had no idea green tea could taste so amazing. I likened the scent to Cheerios and the leaf to the appearance of upholstery stuffing. I remember resteeping it until it literally had nothing left to give.

Today the leaf is even more beautiful to me with its green and white fuzzy leaf. I notice the temp has been revised upward to 185 F. Pretty sure it was 176 or so before. I went with a 1 1/2 minute steep. The cup looks like white wine and the wet leaf is so aromatic I want to dig in with a fork and chow down. I resisted.

This is buttery creamed corn in a cup with the good kind of lightly bitter bite at the end. The flavors is light and refreshing. It does not overpower the senses, yet you don’t have to search for it either. Very near the top of my green tea favorites list.

Now for the awwww part of my note. Yesterday, as some may have read, we got a Chineranian puppy, which is a mix between a Japanese Chin and a Pomeranian. It is a little 2 pound fuzz ball. I was concerned how Spike our Chihuahua/Russell mix would react. He goes berserk when the cats even walk into the room when he has a toy or a rawhide treat in the floor. Within just a couple hours Buffy the Chihuahua Slayer was allowed to examine and play with both.

My son brought his big 60 pound dog over to meet Buffy. JJ is blind but he could smell her. So he wanted to nuzzle and sniff her up close. Spike growled. Protective and jealous. I think he is smitten. This morning I noticed Spike hanging half out of his bed to make room for his new puppy love. He gave me a pathetic “What are you gonna do” look that us guys understand. I laughed at him. Tell me about dog.

Lala

Glad to here all the family members are getting along.

TheTeaFairy

Awwwwwwwwww indeed!!!

SimpliciTEA

Great doggie narrative! Also, glad to hear you love this tea. I have had a number of Bi Lou Chun Teas over the years, and although the flavor of this particular one is not my favorite (I’ve tried both of Teavivre’s 2012 and 2013 harvests), it certainly does have a beautiful appearance.

Cheri

I like so much about this post. The first loose leaf tea, the description of this year’s fresh tea, the canine experiences. :) I’m glad the new puppy is fitting in so well.

Mercuryhime

I love puppy stories. :)

scribbles

That dog story makes me happy :)

Angrboda

Spike and Buffy. Brings me back to my BtVS days, that does. ♥

Stephanie

Buffy and Spike!!! :D

tea-sipper

Oh my gosh, I’m awwwing just at the Buffy & Spike names!

K S

When we got the chihuahua, he fit in the palm of my hand. I named him Spike so he would have a tough name. Never made a Buffy connection at the time. The new little fuzz ball should be a blonde but she is black and white. The name was a joke but it caught on.

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3419 tasting notes

I found this sample while rooting through my tea. I have no idea how old it is and there is no date on it. I know it is much newer than the Bi Luo Chun I reviewed in the past and it seems completely different to me.

I chose this one because it was a favorite of my husband’s years ago. We are having a cheese plate and tea before bed so I made a tea that I know he likes.

The leaves are soft and fluffy, and a lovely fresh green. Instead of the very short steep recommended years ago, this one recommends 185F (up from 175F) and one to six minutes for time. The steeped tea is just full of little downy hairs that covered the leaves. Looking down into the pot, it almost looks like broth rather than tea.

My husband’s response was as I expected. “Wow, this is really good, this is a good one.” Pouring cup after cup and resteeping, he drank quite a lot of it. I told him it was one he had loved in the past, and broke the news to him that even with all the tea stashed here and there, we are low on the things he likes best, so oh dear I suppose I will have to order tea soon!

The first few years that I got this, it tasted heavily of oats and could have passed for plain Cheerios in a sniff test. This time, even after the food was all gone, I keep getting a fruity taste, even citrusy. There is a tiny hint of briskness, almost not noticeable. It is great tasting tea, it just isn’t tasting anything like what I remembered.

Bluegreen

Interesting. Wouldn’t cheese overpower the taste of tea, especially if it’s green? Or do you develop with time the ability to mentally separate them in your head?

ashmanra

It depends! This was a mild goat cheese. I love cheddar with black tea, though! The cheese makes the tea seem especially sweet and Golden Monkey is one of my favorites to pair with cheddars. Sometimes we pair with chocolate, sometimes we are simply having food and drinking tea. If the tea is brisk, the food can disguise that and you don’t really realize HOW astringent the tea was until the food is gone and you have another cup. Those teas I intentionally pair with a meal.

Teatotaler

I love tea and cheese. Second flush Darjeeling with a nice creamy Muenster is divine! Golden Monkey with cheddar sounds wonderful, ashmanra!
Bluegreen – Google tea and cheese pairings. Tea and cheese is a marriage made in heaven! :)

ashmanra

I am no cheese expert but I do love cheese! I just found out that a cheese we bought at a soecialty ahop out of town is now available at our Fresh Market! It is called Humboldt Fog and my husband and I both really loved it. It is great to find a cheese (or tea) that you both love equally.

Shanie O Maniac

Just to throw my two cents in, my parents received a six month subscription to a “Cheeses of the World” type monthly box, as a Christmas Present last year. They receive three cheeses of a specific type or locale every month, with this coming month being the last month. I have thoroughly enjoyed eating their gourmet cheese with various teas that I have brought over there. There was one I had, it was part of the “American” box, that I enjoyed with some Jasmine Silver Needle that was just lovely. Good stuff.

ashmanra

Shanie O Maniac: That sounds like amwonderful gift! Last night we had Humboldt Fog with Wenshan Baozhong. I would have gone with a dark oolong but husband prefers green.

Kittenna

Late to the party, but I’m going to have to look up tea and cheese pairings. I love cheese, but wine+cheese never worked for me because I generally dislike wine.

ashmanra

I am just glad you made it to the party! Black and Oolong teas are my favorites so far with cheese. Let us know if you find any magical combinations!

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86
2201 tasting notes

Having this tea this afternoon, brewed in my gaiwan in short steeps and combined into one cup.

I have to say, this cup smelled really really melon-y. Almost cantaloupe, but moresoe honeydew. It’s nice and sweet as well as fresh and green. I am really digging the spring harvest of this Bi Luo Chun! It is so interesting how the harvests can make such a difference.

Flavors: Garden Peas, Honeydew, Melon

Helene

Thanks for the review. May I ask where you bought your Gaiway? Thanks

Dinosara

The one I use most frequently I got at Verdant tea, but they only restock on teawares about once a year when they go to China. This is the one I have: http://verdanttea.com/teas/jingdezhen-wide-bird-gaiwan/

I also have a small gaiwan from Teavivre that I use frequently, and their teawares are pretty much always in stock.

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90
1184 tasting notes

Many thanks to Angel and Teavivre for this generous sample!

I was really apprehensive about this sample because I am not the biggest fan of greens, especially straight greens, but this was really good! Colour me shocked.

The dry leaf is curly, soft, and downy. It smells really vegetal which has me worried.

Taste: delicious, slightly vegetal, slightly sweet and kind of nutty. I get the “savory” flavour almost like salted butter. It is a little drying on the mouth.

2nd steep: 80degrees, 1.5minutes, a little more vegetal, but still nutty

3rd steep: 85degrees, 2.5minutes, less vegetal with some sweetness remaining.

I think I liked this so much because it just tastes so fresh. I always get excellent quality from Teavivre’s teas and so many of them have surprised me. I didn’t think that I would ever enjoy straight tea so much!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
TheTeaFairy

I also liked this one a lot… greens are not the easiest to handle, I also get worried when I try a new one. As I’m perfecting my brewing methods, I appreciate more and more!

tigress_al

I totally agree, since I got my variable temp kettle, I am liking more greens, but I am always apprehensive about trying a new one.

TheTeaFairy

Don’t you love that variable temp kettle? I’ve revisited my cupboard ever since I got mine a couple of months ago…wow, teas I thought I didn’t like so much are now some of my favorites, what a great investment!

Garrett

i am completely the same. my variable kettle opened up so much more about my teas. it’s interesting how you described this one tigress, for me this was much smokier and reminded me a lot of gunpowder green.

tigress_al

I haven’t tasted any gunpowder green so I am not sure how it compares. Lol I have generally been avoiding straight greens until now.
I will have to try one now to compare.
I don’t know how I would live without my variable temp kettle!

Garrett

a gunpowder green pretty much tastes like its exact name but sure thing, you should try one sometime :). if you’re new to straight greens i would certainly try a dragonwell. to me it’s the king of greens (although i’ve never tried sencha or gyokuro)

tigress_al

I have a dragonwell from teavivre waiting for me! Looking forward to it now.

Garrett

you’re going to fall in love :) well hopefully haha

Kittenna

Before the variable temp kettle, what did you do? I have been using a meat thermometer to check water temperature, so I can’t envision that a variable temp would make a difference to tea flavour, just to ease of brewing.

tigress_al

I didn’t have a theometer and so it was always a guessing game when the water was the right temp. I always guessed wrong and burnt my green tea. Then I saw the variable temp kettle for like $20 or $30 at Canadian tire so I had to try it. And I needed a new kettle at the time!

Lucy

I have just been going by the bubbles forming in the kettle. I gauge what the temperature is based on the size and quantity of the bubbles forming. I know it is not extremely accurate.. but it’s not once costed me a cup of green tea (which I am grateful about). Typically I boil the water, then wait until all the bubbles from the boil disappear

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3294 tasting notes

Thank you Angel & Teavivre for another generous sample.

In shades of Sage, sof gray, & cream, this is a delicate tightly rolled tea that opens to beautiful bright green small leaves. The dry aroma is thick & a little tart.
I went with 4 G in the test tube steeper, only filling it a little over halfway, which is maybe 3oz or so, using short steepings of 30/60 etc

Overall, I found it to be refreshing, lightly tangy, & sweet, with a wonderful sense of clarity!
The later steeping tended towards a light astringency & small bitter quality, but not enough to make it unpleasant in anyway. An enjoyable tasty tea, although admittedly, I believe I prefer the Cha Want Tai Ping Hou Kui.

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1220 tasting notes

I forget I still have all these Teavivre samples, I don’t think I have ever actually finished a package and I still have some new ones from months ago that I have yet to try, because I completely misplaced them.

They are found now so I will definitely need to get drinking them.

I just made a bowl of “Singapore curry” because this morning’s F1 race was in Singapore, but I was not much a fan of it, since it was made with shrimp and meh. So I went through the drawer of samples to find a savory tea I could have instead.

This time around I get less of a fruitiness and more of the broth-like tastes that I noted other reviews mentioned. It’s still sweet, but mostly vegetal and savory. It’s not too heavy, which is just what I want because I didn’t get to eat lunch until 4 (who goes to play racquetball for 2 1/2 hours at 1pm without even waking me up beforehand to say hey maybe we should eat lunch first since we were up at 7:30? my boyfriend!). I’ll probably go grab one of the teas I’ve yet to try instead of resteeping this one just because I really feel bad now that I haven’t had them yet!

Bonnie

That’s a nice surprise!

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84 tasting notes

Small twisted dark green leaf.
Brewed palest yellow with an aroma of savory broth and the sea.
Tastes sweet and slightly savory with a hint of salt. Very smooth, light and delicious!

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174 tasting notes

Backlogging from last month.

I’ve been a little slow to updating my notes. This was a sample I had received from Teavivre, thank you. Now, I’ve only had one other Pi Lo Chun before and I didn’t care for it so I decided to try another from a better vendor, so here we are.

The dry leaves are a curled mix of darker green leaves and fuzzy white ones and smell vaguely of the sea. When brewed up the wet leaves have a sweet, smokey vegetal scent to them. The infusion was light and had a hint of smoke to it.

Upon tasting the first infusion I got notes of sweetness, smoke, salt, and vegetal. Kind of reminded me of a savory miso soup, fascinating. As it started to cool a little I started to get roasted/grilled corn notes. As the infusions went on, I got to 5, the corn notes came out a little more but it didn’t really change, but I wasn’t expecting it to either.

This is a decent green tea, unfortunately I don’t care for smokey teas…I’m a wimp when it comes to that and I’m sure Bonnie is going to say something! I’m glad I got to try this and broaden my horizons a bit, but I’m going to refrain from rating this one because of my dislike of smokey teas. Thank you Teavivre for letting me try this!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Wimp!!

Bonnie

Ok…maybe you have to meet the right smoky tea like I have to meet the right man! (Bad comparison?!) Easier to find the right smoky tea! Have I mailed you any LS yet? I can’t remember who I send what tea to. If not want to try it?

TeaBrat

ha ha – your tastes may change someday, I used to hate smoky teas…

CHAroma

…I’m confused…you found this smokey?! My sample of this wasn’t even remotely smokey. It pretty much tasted like white tea. Was this stored with something smokey that absorbed that flavor?

Invader Zim

Bonnie: yes I’m a wimp and I never had a LS…I’m afraid it’s just too much for me yet with my fragile taste buds!

Amy oh: my tastes have changed a little but not when it comes to smoke or black teas.

CHAroma: I did find it slightly smokey, not very much though, a little less than a gunpowder. It was stored in a well sealed glass jar that did not contain anything smokey before it and with nothing strong smelling around it. I think I’m just sensitive to it.

CHAroma

Hmmm, interesting. I’m really sensitive to smoke too, so that’s why I’m so surprised. Now I have to go home and brew this again!

CHAroma

So, I tried this again and you’re completely right!! I could detect just a hint of smoke in the aroma and flavor. Sorry I ever doubted you. ;)

Invader Zim

Oh good, I was starting to think I was losing my marbles!

CHAroma

Yep, my tastes buds just weren’t very developed the first time I tried this. I noticed the smoke flavor but didn’t know it was “smoke.” So, I think I just called it odd and unexpected in my tea review. But now that I’ve since had Lapsang Souchong and other smokey teas, I can recognize that aroma and flavor as smoke in the Pi Lo Chun. Interesting how taste buds develop without you really noticing.

Invader Zim

I’m not so sure that the taste buds develop, I think over time you are better able to pick out subtleties and find better ways of describing what you’re tasting. More like your abilities of picking out and describing tastes are becoming more developed.

CHAroma

Well put. :)

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69
100 tasting notes

Scent is buttery, sweet, titch floral. Leaves are soft with lots of down, and tightly curled. The tea is smooth and brothy, with an oily texture which coats the mouth.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 30 sec
Stephanie

Interesting

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84
2816 tasting notes

This Pi Lo Chun is nice this morning, I needed a mild and somewhat gentle green tea to get me going today. Overall, Chinese green teas don’t seem as flavorful to me as Japanese green teas but sencha can really make me nauseated. Thanks again for the sample, TV.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 15 sec

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