Bi Luo Chun

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Bi Luo Chun Tea

(Green Snail Spring Tea)

Originating in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Green Snail Spring Tea, or Bi Luo Chun is grown on Dongting Mountain in Wu County outside of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. It is often Biluochun, Pi Luo Chun or Piluochun. Its name's literal translation means Green Snail Spring Tea. "Green" because it is a Green Tea, "Snail" because the finished tea is curled like a snail shell, and "Spring" because that is when it is harvested.The tea is known for its strong fragrance and so was originally called "Scary Fragrance Tea". This wonderful Green Tea is listed on virtually every list of the 10 Most Famous Teas. Click here to view our list . The tea is known for its delicate appearance, fruity taste, and lingering floral aroma. The leaves used are very small so that one Kilogram of finished tea leaves requires over 14,000 tea buds.

Legends of Green Snail Spring Tea
According to legend, hundreds of years ago a girl who was picking tea filled up her basket and having no place to put the tea leaves started storing them in her top. While working, her body heat caused the tea to emit a strong aroma which surprised the woman. After that women before picking the tea would bath and then store the tea in their tops.

History
In 1699AD, during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911AD), Emperor Kangxi visited Suzhou on one of his many tours and was served the tea. Before he even lifted the glass he could smell the fragrance of the tea. Upon drinking the tea, he said that the tea lived up to its name of "Scary Fragrance Tea", but he thought since it was such a fine tea that it should have a nicer and more poetic name, so he renamed it Bi Luo Chun. The author of the book Tea Encyclopedia (Cha Shuo) written during the late Qing Dynasty ranked Bi Luo Chun as the best of all Green Teas. He listed Dragon Well Tea as second.

Fake Teas
Authentic Bi Luo Chun is grown in Dong Ting. There are quite a number of fakes on the market unfortunately. They are grown in Zhejiang and Sichuan Provinces. The fake teas are produced from a different species of tea tree. The fake tea's leaves are less uniform in size and usually contain many yellow leaves. The flavor of authentic Biluochun is fruity, while the fake teas tend to have a nuttier flavor.