Imperial Grade Pure Bud Bi Luo Chun Green Tea * Autumn 2016

Note: This is for the 2014 version of this tea – I didn’t feel like making a new Steepster page for the older batch.

I got a nice sample of this one from S.G. Sanders. I’ll admit that I was dubious about it at first, being that it was a 2 year old green tea. I really don’t drink a whole lot of Chinese greens either, though that isn’t really because I dislike them. These leaves have a nice and slightly green fruity aroma to them. Interestingly, I didn’t pick up a whole lot of fruit in the flavor.

To me, this tea was mostly nutty sweet with maybe a slight floral note here or there. I brewed it at 160F, as was recommended by the sender, and there were slight hints of some astringency in the early steeps, enough to tell me it may have been unpleasant had I brewed at a higher temperature. Despite its age and the common wisdom regarding green teas (that they should be consumed fresh), this tea didn’t taste stale or weak. I’m sure I’d notice a difference if I were to taste the current year’s harvest side by side, but this is certainly still a good-tasting tea in its own right.

Thanks for sending this one my way, SG!