For a spring project, I decided to compare three Mingqian teas from three companies: Bi Luo Chun, Longjing, and Anji Bai Cha. The vendors were Teavivre, Treasure Green, and Seven Cups. I received my last shipment of tea on Thursday and did the Bi Luo Chun comparison session over the weekend.
Over the past few years, several people have recommended the green tea from Seven Cups. However, the cost to ship to Canada is high and the teas usually sell out within days, making it necessary to place multiple orders to get everything I wanted. I contacted the vendor and asked if they would hold some tea for me, and they generously agreed. I was able to get six spring teas over about a month, and while the shipping was high, I think it was worth it! This is the first pluck of their regular Bi Luo Chun.
Tea bush: Seed-grown Heirloom Quntizhong
Location: Jingtingzhen (Xishan Island), Suzhou
Picking date: First pluck, March 28-29, 2024
Price/g: US$2.00
For the session, I steeped 2.4 g of all three teas in 120 ml of 185F water, starting at 4 minutes. This produced very potent steeps! I later did a more typical session, steeping 3 g of leaf in 250 ml of 185F water starting at 4 minutes, refilling the cup as needed.
The dry aroma is of heady lilac, gardenia, magnolia, cantaloupe, pear, butter, and green beans. The first round gives me lilac and other spring flowers, heady gardenia and magnolia, buttered green beans, something nutty and cakey, cantaloupe, pear, and asparagus. I can also taste the fuzzy trichomes coming off these tiny silver snails. The middle steeps retain the lovely fruity/floral aroma, with herbs, asparagus, and lettuce. The tea is a bit drying at this point and has a lovely pear/fruity aftertaste. The final steeps have hints of orange, kale, those lovely florals, beans, minerals, and grass.
This is the only Bi Luo Chun that seemed more attenuated using my normal parameters than in the comparison session. The florals were softer, though still very noticeable, and the tea had the same mild bitterness in both scenarios.
This Bi Luo Chun immediately set itself apart by its heady floral aroma, and I’d say it was my favourite of the bunch. It had the most potent BLC fruitiness and florality, with florals similar to a gaoshan, along with some vegetal bitterness. The tea stood up the best to my heavy-handed steeping and actually seemed to benefit from it. At $2.00 per gram, I’m not surprised this made an impression on me, and it’s probably the one I’ll finish the fastest.
Flavors: Asparagus, Butter, Cake, Cantaloupe, Drying, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Green Beans, Herbaceous, Kale, Lettuce, Lilac, Magnolia, Mineral, Nutty, Orange, Pear, Perfume, Vegetal
