Golden Bi Luo

After a full week of working in NJ, I am so happy to be home and surrounded by tea again. I have a quick story regarding this tea and airport security. I’ll start off by saying that I ALWAYS get pulled for “random” searches. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that my maiden name is Syrian. (I chose to hyphenate when I got married. Perhaps not the greatest idea in hindsight.) Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah…Random search, my ass! And I look white!…mostly. So I get pulled…they go through my purse, my laptop case, etc. In my purse they find my sample of Golden Bi Lou. I recently received the sample in the mail from Chicago Tea Garden and thought it would be a great size to take on my trip. I DID think to include the slip of paper that came with the tea. (I think this is the only thing that saved me.) While the airport security folks are rubbing various cotton swab pads on the inside of my purse, another security guy dangles the bag in front of me. I told him that it was tea. “Loose. Leaf. Tea.” I guess he’d never heard of it. He thought it was a type of drug. I told him about the slip of paper in my purse that describes the types of tea, steeping times and so on. I pointed out that there was a website on the slip that could further aid the situation. I don’t know if they went to the site or not, but about 5 minutes later they let me go. And I got to keep my tea!

That being said…I really did like this tea. The malty taste comforted me once I got back to my hotel and settled. Maybe it tasted better because of the ordeal I went through to bring it with me. This isn’t the heaviest Yunnan I’ve tasted, but it was quite pleasant. I think I prefer my Yunnan with a little more punch. There was a nice earthy taste and light sweetness to the tea, but I mostly remember the malt and the cute fuzzy leaves…and the fact that it never got bitter in the slightest. I’m very happy with this sample and curious about reading the posts from those that chose the Sticky Rice Pu-erh Toucha. That was the other tea I debated getting the sample of.

Side note: I love how the Golden Bi Lou leaves look! I keep staring at the picture on Steepster like it’s one of those “Magic Eye” prints that were big back in the day. It’s so cool that some of the leaves are in focus and the others are blurry. Great tea photo!

I got this one as a free sample from Chicago tea garden. I have been hanging on to it for awhile and boy am I glad I decided to try it this morning. First off the dry leaf look like little snails and I marvel and adore them every time I look at the bag. The are so cute!!

I didn’t get much off the dry leaf but I am a little stuffy from allergies so this may be why. I am also glad (whew) I read the steeping parameters as I usually go five minutes on black tea and the note said 212 for 1 minute!! Brewed up it is a dark amber, brownish color and the flavor is light and malty a little earthy with no hints of astringency. I really like it and would definitely order this. I appreciate the free sample as it will lead to me purchasing more Bi Lo Chun and others from Chicago Tea Garden.

I was very close to having CTG’s Keemun again this morning (it’s that good) but I decided that I really should try my other teas, so I grabbed this one. The dry leaf smells malty-bakey-sweet and that smell carries over to the brewed tea.

The taste is sweet and creamy, like a Yunnan that has been gentled with a little milk. It’s very smooth but with a hint of a stouter Yunnan underneath. I wonder if increasing the steep time would bring that out? Though actually, I don’t think I want it stouter. It’s not weak tasting by any means, just smooth. And I wouldn’t want to mess that up. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say I’m getting vanilla notes but the creamy isn’t too far off base from that, just milder than what I’d identify as vanilla. There’s also a freshness about it that makes it seem almost roasted-vegetable-like. The aftertaste is sweet and bakey/toasty and very yum.

There’s not as much depth or awesome-ness as yesterday’s Keemun, but I don’t regret starting my day with this one.

My free sample from Chicago Tea Gardens like many of you seemed to have done the same.

This smells like toasty black tea…very nice!

It seems to be a medium brown in color but I’m not quite finished with the infusion just yet.

The lil swirl balled up leaves are really trying to eek their way out into a more straight and narrow looking leaf…for the most part it looks to be successful.

That taste…

It certainly toasty. NOT smokey but toasty. YUM. There is a hint of sweet at the end and a little maltiness but not full malt!

As it cools I can pick out that it is more of a toasty nut flavor. It’s interesting and pleasing – so glad I got to try it!!! It’s very good!

First Yunnan sample I picked out for the husband. Cute snails, he thought they were creepy. We brewed a small amount, 8 oz which is perfect for our two 4 oz cups. I did a quick rinse then a one minute steep with slightly below boiling water, which is lucky really as I didn’t have the steeping parameters but knew my husband didn’t like super short steeps but I didn’t want to risk a long one so I planned on doing three infusions at 1, 2 and 3 mins each.

I probably could have used more leaf but the first infusion came out smooth, light and with a hint of honey sweetness. Husband said it was nice, but there was nothing remarkable about it and he definitely didn’t get vanilla, I figured it would come through in a later infusion.

So I rebrewed and my husband and I had the same reaction, we wanted to scrape our tongues to get rid of the feeling on them. I wouldn’t call it bitter, but it was an odd kind of astringent, it felt cool and the taste was pretty mild. Now I don’t care much for second steeps on most teas and the husband doesn’t like rein fusing British blends because of this similar feeling it yields. So while he ordinarily chalks it up to the quality or just the nature of black teas, I promised the third infusion would be better.

Not so, it had a little bit of a buttery mouthfeel but it turned dry and was bland. I experimented with a short steep to see if the tea had anything left to give, but no. Me thinks I abused it and shall treat what is left of it more kindly. I’m excited for him to try Verdant’s Yunnan blacks, but we both realized tonight was not the night.

Wow, my first thought was this is so smooth and full of flavor. Slightly sweet, a bit chewy, and kind of meaty. Not that it tastes like meat but it has a quality I imagine meaty it to be. I know weird. Bottom-line a huge unexpected surprise. I am drooling just thinking about it. Delicious!

I got this tea as a free sample from Chicago Tea Garden. I am drinking the second steeping of this tea because I gave my husband the first steeping and according to the directions I don’t have enough tea for more than 1.5 cups (I have just enough left for a tiny mug). So I used the amount suggested and made 2 steepings saving the small amount of tea left for another day.

The leaves are really pretty: golden in color and rolled up into little curly-q balls. The tea has no bitterness and very little astringency. It is nice and malty. I’m trying really hard to come up with something that makes this tea special and I am only finding the smoothness of the tea to be special. Otherwise, it tastes like a black tea.

5g to 11 oz.

I go this as a free sample from Chicago Tea Company so thank you so much. This looks like black and brown twisted circles. Smelled like black tea.This smells like black tea. I steeped this up. This taste like a good black tea abit malty strong but not over the top and I added sugar. This tea is really good.

I received this very nice sample from Chicago Tea Garden last night but since it was late by the time I checked the mail, I waited until today to give it a try. The dry tea consists of brown and gold curls which were almost too cute to steep. The dry leaf smells…I don’t know…I can’t really place it but the word “malty” kept coming to me so maybe it is malty. After steeping, the tea takes on a dark red/brown shade which I found a bit odd for some reason. The brewed tea is also a medium brown shade which I suppose it to be expected. The malty scent from the dry leaf is intensified after brewing and I wasn’t sure if I was fond of the smell since it was so strong. I was standing at least 1-2 feet away and could still smell it. The taste is very smooth, earthy and malty. Honestly, it reminds me a great deal of how Dawn by the Simple Leaf tastes. It has that same sort of earthy quality…so maybe the initial scent isn’t malty but earthy…hmm.. I’m not getting the vanilla that some others and the vendor were tasting but there is a slight sweetness to the aftertaste. I wouldn’t peg that sweetness as vanilla though.
Anyway, I’m surprised I liked this tea so much because it seems most others were using really short steeps. Since I made it before getting online, I used my typical 3 minutes. It will be interesting to see how many infusions I can get out of this.

Another $3 sample (including shipping)from the Chicago Tea Garden. The tea is EXACTLY like the photo with tightly coiled golden balls. I followed the recommended steeping times of 1 minute for the first infusion. This was a very mild black tea- no need to add milk to this one. There was no astringency and only a mild malty flavor was present. The vendor suggested that 8 infusions would be possible- after about 4 infusions, the taste faded for me.

As this tea is so mild, this tea would be perfect for someone who is not a fan of black teas. Personally, I prefer a punchier tea but I can certainly appreciate this tea’s quality…

First tea of the day for me. I really like this tea, it’s a rich black tea and a bit creamy with vanilla tones mixed in. I like this a lot.

Today I went to a little french cafe with my sister and had the most amazing Earl Grey chocolate mousse. An after breakfast treat that incorporated tea!
The leaves of the Golden Bi Luo are really neat- little snails for sure. They smell almost caramelly..
Liquor 1min: I used 2 tsp per 12 oz cup. This produced a nice rich amber color that smells caramelly vanilla smoke. The taste is great as well. Initially, I taste some carmel vanilla malt… which melts around my tongue… much like butter does. Except this is not so much butter as a cream melt. It’s so hard to describe it, but I like it. I like it a lot. I just got a whiff while going in for a sip and it reminded me of delicious beef broth. I don’t know why. The end of the sip definitely has a lingering aftertaste of smokiness.
I do have a love affair with LS’s and Russian Caravans.. so this really pulls at my heart strings.
Subsequent steeps: Delicious.. though I find the vanilla caramel fades rather quick and is replaced by an interesting tanginess that I rarely find. The malty flavour definitely picks up, as well as the smokey presence. Great. I think I liked the initial steeps though. Thank you very much Chicago Tea Garden for this lovely sample!

I forgot I even had this when I was digging around for new teas to try. I thought I had passed on all my golden teas to my brother. Oh, glorious morning! This tastes just like a Yunnan gold-tipped Dian Hong only with a lighter mouthfeel. It’s sweet, earthy, partially creamy, medium-malty…and quite the waker-upper.

Full Review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss, my SororiTEA Sister, for sending me this sampling.

The liquor is very fragrant – and smells delightful.

The taste: toasty and with spicy notes. I am getting the hints of vanilla that the description suggests right at the beginning of the sip, in the middle I get a toasty malty taste, and the tea finishes sweet. Nice and complex. Beautiful!

So I, like many, have received the recent newsletter about the closing sale of Chicago tea garden, something that saddened me a little. While I had only purchased two teas from them (this one and the Tie Guan Yin), I did see myself purchasing more from them in the future thanks to their amazing presentation (Tea info cards with free quality tins?). I was waiting on their 2012 teas to make my next round of purchases but seems that will never happen. So while I’ve had this for a while, I never bothered to write a note of it (like so many of my other teas, sigh I just have so many right now). So anyways here it is, before it quickly becomes irrelevant.

>Dry Leaf Appearance/Aroma
Small fuzzy golden curls, very uniform in shape. Like little golden nuggets. Aroma is that of a typical yunnan black, spicy and peppery but this one is milder and with maybe a touch of vanilla.

>Brewing Method
Following CTG’s intructions, boiling water, 1 min. 1 infusion.

>Liquid Appearance
Dark amber.

>Taste/Aroma
Not as aromatic as other yunnans, but taste-wise it is mildly peppery, sweet, and with subtle hints of vanilla. I sometimes pick up a little fruitiness similar to that of a Keemum. It is smooth and has absolutely no bitterness.

>Wet Leaf Appearance
The tight curls unfurl into long thin needle buds, dark clay like in color.

>Overall
As a fan of Yunnan blacks, I have enjoyed this tea a lot. It is milder in taste than others and notes of vanilla are more apparent in this one than the other I have. These subtle differences make it unique enough to differentiate it from other Yunnans. I will certainly miss it once I run out of it.

This tea looks so neat with its little gold and black coils – I’m used to only seeing green teas rolled like that (the usual Bi Luo Chun) so this is an interesting change. The first steep was only for 1:30 minutes but still yielded plenty of flavour – if the strength of the tea was any indication I wouldn’t do the initial steeping for any longer. It has what I’d call a typical Yunnan flavour, a mix of malty and smokey flavours with a hint of bitterness. It’s got quite a punch to it, so subtle this tea most definitely is not.

The second steeping at 3:00 minutes was more mild but still very flavourful. I imagine I could get at least two more steepings out of these leaves if I had the time – unfortunately that experiment will have to wait for another day as I have to run off to work right now. :(

1st infusion: 2 minutes, boiling water
Despite the reviews here I was still rather surprised at the lightness/delicateness of this for a black tea. The deep red liquor was lightly malty, woodsy, and a tad fruity.

2nd infusion: 2 1/2 minutes, boiling water
The color is only slightly lighter but the flavor is much lighter and the fruity note has vanished.

A nice tea but not something I can’t live without.

Having not found a black tea that I could drink everyday, finding this tea was a great thing. This tea if brewed correctly will need no cream or sweetener. I brewed 3g of it in my Gaiwan for 1minute. It lasted for many steepings, but started loosing its flavor around steeping 8.

So I was off a couple days and didn’t update this one, but boy am I glad I waited!

Initially I made a pot of this for a friend and I, thinking it was going to be sweet perhaps. The flavors in this tea are amazing, but expect savory, not sweet. It’s very malt-y, which I didn’t care too much for on the first infusion. We only infused it once until we moved on to the next tea.

Well…

Today I had work, and had my new Aladdin Infuser Mug too (love it!). I wanted to bring a tea with me that could survive multiple infusions, so I decided to give this another whirl. It was phenomenal! The first infusion is OK, very strong, but the second infusions onward were very much enjoyed. I got 5 infusions out of my leaves before I tossed them!

Oh and that reminds me, I’ve seen the word “mouthfeel” used a lot, and that’s what I will be using here. This tea is one of the smoothest I’ve ever experienced. It has to be experienced!

A new tea vendor selling a time-honored tea. My humans had the honor of trying it out awhile ago. http://bit.ly/a6wgcR