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.
Flavors: Asparagus, Butter, Cream, Garden Peas, Grass, Hay, Honey, Kale, Lemon, Malt, Mineral, Parsley, Pineapple, Plum, Seaweed, Soybean, Spinach, Straw, Sugarcane, Sweet, Umami, Zucchini
