Bi Luo Chun (碧螺春)

archetype: Spring girl with fruits

A young girl with a basket of the first fruits: spiral leaves, a fruity tenderness, the scent of peaches from the orchard next door.

History

Bi Luo Chun — 'emerald spring spiral' — is one of the ten famous teas of China. It grows on Mount Dongtingshan above Lake Taihu (Jiangsu), shoulder to shoulder with fruit trees — peach, apricot, loquat. The tea bush's roots and the fruit trees' roots share the same soil, and the leaf gathers their pollen and fruity esters. Each leaf is rolled by hand into a tight half-centimetre spiral.

Before the Qing era the tea was called 'frightful fragrance' (Xia sha ren xiang, 嚇煞人香) — so strong, they said, that it scared people. The Kangxi emperor, resting by Lake Taihu, tasted it and asked its name. He disliked the name — too rough — and renamed it 'Bi Luo Chun', 'emerald spring spiral', looking at the leaf's curled shape.

Terroir

50–300 m — relatively low, but in sheltered gorges. loose red clay with the organic matter of fruit trees. humid subtropics; the lake softens both winter and summer; abundant mists. The leaf is gathered exclusively by hand, before the Qingming festival (5 April). Some 60–80 thousand young buds go into 500 g of finished leaf.

Leaf

dry leaf: tight jade-green spirals covered with thin white down

warmed: the warmed leaf — ripe peach, apricot, floral pollen, a light nutty-sweet base

after pour: after the infusion — peach, loquat, acacia, a thin green freshness

taste: peach, apricot, floral pollen, a light nutty-sweet base; in the middle infusions a honeyed tenderness

finish: thin, sweet, long for a green tea; the aftertaste is a fruit trail in the throat

Properties

TCM: cool, yin; clears heat, brightens the head, nourishes the skin, gently supports the stomach

Modern: rich in catechins and the natural volatile esters of fruit trees; gentle stimulation

Cha qi: light, rising, warm in the upper chest; felt as the first spring

Caffeine: moderate (25–40 mg)

Brewing ritual

a glass of 200 ml — pour water first, leaf after; 75 °C, very soft; 4 g / 200 ml. 30s — the first opening — peach, floral pollen; 50s — the peak: apricot, light honey; 80s — a nutty base, a long soft note.

When to drink

morning and early day — for a fresh mood. early spring — when you want fruit to wake in the blood. when winter sits in the blood, after a long grey stretch. peach, apricot, white curd, light shortbread, fruit salads. morning for two; a conversation with a young friend

Tea meditation

Pour water into the cup first. Only then the leaf.
The spiral will open by itself.
Don't hurry — spring keeps no schedule.

Questions and answers

How do you brew Bi Luo Chun?

What does Bi Luo Chun taste like?

peach, apricot, floral pollen, a light nutty-sweet base; in the middle infusions a honeyed tenderness

How much caffeine is in Bi Luo Chun?

moderate (25–40 mg)

What are the effects of Bi Luo Chun?

rich in catechins and the natural volatile esters of fruit trees; gentle stimulation