TeaHQ

Bi Luo Chun

A Jiangsu green tea of tiny, downy, tightly spiralled leaves, traditionally grown interplanted with fruit trees. It is markedly more floral and fruity than other Chinese greens, and delicate enough that it is usually added to water rather than the other way round.

Green teaModerate intensityIntermediate to appreciate碧螺春
Brew at 70–80 °CUse 1–2 g per 100 mlFirst steep 90sWestern brewing (teapot or mug)Full schedule and equipment →

Character

Fruity and floral in a way few green teas manage, with a very fine downy texture in the cup from the bud hairs. Fragile: a few degrees too hot and the fruit turns to hay.

Flavour
Floral, Fruity, Sweet
Aroma
Stone fruit, Fresh
Mouthfeel
Light, Silky
Complexity
Layered
Notes
stone fruit, white flowers, fresh cream, green almond
Aftertaste
Delicate, floral and quickly clearing.

Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.

Provenance and production

Origin
China
Oxidation
Unoxidised
Harvest
First flush
Processing
Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping

Authenticity: The fruit-tree interplanting that traditional accounts credit for the tea’s fruitiness applies to a small original area near Lake Tai. Most Bi Luo Chun on the market is made to the same shape elsewhere.

History

Recorded under the Kangxi emperor, who is said to have renamed it from a local name considered too coarse for court use. It has been a tribute tea since, and the spiral shape is achieved entirely by hand-rolling.

Brewing

No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.

Common mistakes

  • Pouring hot water directly onto the fine leaf, which scorches it
  • Steeping it as long as a leafier green

If you like this

Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.

Editorially linked

Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.

  • Longjing

    Both pan-fired Chinese greens. Bi Luo Chun is more fragile and more fruity, and wants leaf dropped onto poured water rather than the reverse.

  • Duyun Mao Jian

    Two curled downy Chinese greens that look almost identical dry. Bi Luo Chun is the famous one and Duyun Mao Jian from Guizhou is frequently sold in its place.

Similar sensory profile

Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.

  • Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needle)

    Shares 6 descriptors with Bi Luo Chun: sweet, floral, fruity, light, silky and fresh.

  • Darjeeling white tea

    Shares 6 descriptors with Bi Luo Chun: floral, fruity, sweet, light, silky and stone fruit.

  • Fuding Silver Needle

    Shares 6 descriptors with Bi Luo Chun: sweet, fruity, floral, light, silky and fresh.

  • Bai Ji Guan

    Shares 5 descriptors with Bi Luo Chun: sweet, floral, light, silky and fresh.

  • Bai Mudan

    Shares 5 descriptors with Bi Luo Chun: sweet, fruity, floral, silky and fresh.

  • Bai Mudan Wang

    Shares 5 descriptors with Bi Luo Chun: sweet, fruity, floral, silky and fresh.

Compare this tea with another

Written comparisons

Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.

  • Longjing vs Bi Luo Chun — The two most famous Chinese green teas, both from the lower Yangtze, both hand-shaped, and shaped in opposite directions.

Journeys featuring this tea