Taiwan Primeur Green Bi Luo Chun 2023 No.341

San Xia Bi Luo Chun, 三峽碧螺春, the “Three Gorges Jade Green Spring Swirl”. To make it easier to remember and since we only have one early green from Taiwan, we named it Taiwan Primeur Green.

Bi Luo Chun is a famous tea produced in the Suzhou area, China. It is famous for its beautifully curled, twisting leaves. The resemblance gives the name to its Taiwanese cousin. The exciting thing about this tea is that it is made of the Qing Xin / Chin Shin 青 心 (green heart) varietal, usually used for high mountain oolongs, not from the usual basic green tea varietals. Due to the tender buds and early picking, the tea shows quite soft, fresh, and floral fragrant, elegant notes. It comes from an organic plantation, at a lower elevation. The tea gives its everything in 3-4 steepings. We definitely recommend tasting the first infusion as well, it’s a sip of real Spring.

This tea will also be perfect as a Cold brew for the warm Spring and Summer days. Put 10-12 grams of tea in 1 liter of chilled water, then let it steep for another 10-12 hours, filter it, and enjoy it with ice or chilled as it is. Really fresh spring tea is recommended for all ages. We wrote about Cold brew in this article. 

Tasting notes:
Steamed gaiwan: chestnuts,  edamame beans
Tastes, feeling: at 85 degrees the scent of water chestnut, peach, lotus seed, Gingko Biloba, and the typical Maofeng greenish fresh scent, the aftertaste is long and pleasantly green, with typical notes of Qing Xin.

Quantity: 5-6 grams per 150ml.
Water temperature: 80-85ºC. From fresh, cold spring water or filtered water.
Brewing time: 15-25…seconds
Infusions: 4-5