Taihu Biluochun Tea
Bi Luo Chun is a famous green tea originally grown in the Dong Ting mountain of Tai Hu, Jiangsu Province. It is one of the ten most famous Chinese tea. Also known as Pi Lo Chun, it is renowned for its delicate appearance, fruity taste, floral aroma, showy white hairs and early cropping.
The name Bi Luo Chun literally means "Green Snail Spring". It is called so because it is a green tea that is rolled into a tight spiral, resembling snail meat, and is cropped early spring. Production of authentic Biluochun tea is very limited, making it expensive and hard to find.
Bi Luo Chun tea was originally called Xia Sha Ren Xiang("Scary Fragrance") for its rich aroma. In Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi visited Tai Hu in the 38th year of his rule. He was amazed by the aroma of tea and really favored it. So, he decided to give it a more elegant name - "Green Snail Spring".
Chinese tea experts regard it very highly. Zhen Jun (1857 to 1918 A.D.), author of tea encyclopedia Cha Shuo (The Theory of Tea), ranked it first among Chinese green tea. Longjing tea came second, Liu An Gua Pian came third. It is so delicate and tender that one kilogram of Dong Ting Bi Luo Chun has 14,000 to 15,000 tea shoots.
Today, Bi Luo Chun is cultivated in Dong Ting, Jiangsu Province. Bi Luo Chun from Dong Shan (East Mountain) is considered the best. Bi Luo Chun tea is also grown in Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces. Their leaves are larger and less uniform (may contain yellow leaves). They taste more nutty than fruity and smooth.
Bi Luo Chun is divided into seven grades in decreasing order of quality: Supreme, Supreme1, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Chao Qing1, and Chao Qing 2.