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!

Snailssss! Invasion of the snailsss! Such awesome tea. So awesome that I immediately recommended it to my fellow tea drinking buddies.

Zoji was set at 208. I wanted tea. Toss up between Ti Kuan Yin and Golden Bi Luo. 208, hmmm, too hot for a green oolong. Guess the snails won the race.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a black tea, but after drinking today’s cup I want some more. It’s rather complex, yet light enough to enjoy on a daily basis. Eight steeps, black tea? Quite possible. I was on my fifth or sixth before my stomach started grumbling announcing that it was time for me to stop with the tea for the day. I was reminded of Simple Leaf’s Dawn when I drank this one. I call this one smokey, but TeaEqualBliss calls it toasty. I can see that. It was charcoal like dawn, but on a lighter scale. Malty, cocoa, smokey/toasty, sweet, overall very pleasant and enjoyable. I’ll definitely need to purchase some more once I run out. I think this would be a great tea to serve company. You know why? It doesn’t get bitter! One set of tea leaves, eight steeps, no bitterness. Success! :)

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!

This has become my go-to black tea when I feel like I need something strong to start the day, but I can’t decide which tea I want to drink. It has that wonderful toastiness — almost chewiness — and that biscuit-y quality that is exactly what I like in a tea to drink with breakfast. It helped jolt me out of my sluggish, sleep deprived stupor this morning, and it tasted so good, I think I’ll drink it again tomorrow.

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 have grown to really appreciate this tea. This holds up well to multiple infusions – which is quite convenient at work using Puritea’s personal tea kettle. It is warm and toasty. Cannot get bitter even if you let it steep to long. No need for sugar. When I first tried this one, I did not use enough tea leaves to water, and the tea tasted too mild. Now that I have mastered the steeping parameters, I really like this one. So I am upping the rating and am considering a purchase!

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.

I am finishing off the sampling of this tea that I have had on hand for a while (thanks TeaEqualsBliss) I like this even more this time than I remember liking it last time, and I liked it a lot last time, so I’ve decided to increase the rating a little.

I just wrote a full-length review of this for the SororiTea Sisters blog but it won’t publish for a few days, so in the meantime, I will say that this tea has such a beautiful malty note to it, it is a very hefty tea with a nice sweetness and a hint of bitter for contrast. A very well-rounded, deliciously balanced cuppa!

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.

With the last of this sample I decided to experiment with a lower steeping temperature which I don’t often do with a black tea. The result is a smoother, more gentle tea which still retains its malty qualities.