“Black Gold” Bi Luo Chun Black Tea - Yunnan Sourcing

Tea

Dec 17

Written By Christian Lee

A black tea variant of the famous Bi Luo Chun green tea, with notes of chocolate, flowers, and a nutty finish.

Name: Yunnan "Black Gold Bi Luo Chun" Black Tea

Source: Yunnan Sourcing

Price: $5.75 / 50g

Harvest: Spring 2021

Origin: Ning'er county of Simao

Varietal: Unknown, 1 leaf to 1 bud pick

Tea Quantity: 5g

Brew Temperature: 90ºC

Water Quantity: 100mL

Brew Time: 30s

Wash: Yes

Visual Notes

This tea is the black tea version of the Green Spring Snail Bi Luo Chun. It appears to be rolled in the same way to produce a visually stunning black and yellow swirl tightly rolled tea. In this grade tea, I see that there are quite a few broken bits and pieces. The color of the tea is a vibrant amber orange color. After one infusion, the rolls have loosened, but are still very tightly close together. It is also interesting how the previous yellow streams have turned brown and the leaf is a uniform color now.

Scent Notes

The moist tea leaves have quite a malty sweet scent. Slight mineral notes, and a bit spiced. The smell of the first infusion matches the scent of the moist tea leaves pretty well.

Tasting Notes

The texture is smooth, a bit malty. The taste is sweet, minerally, and a bit spiced. This first infusion is pretty mellow, and not heavily brewed. You can detect some acidity or sour notes on the sides of the sides of the tongue. Then there is a slightly nutty finish.
The tea leaves are near fully opened. The color is a richer darker orange. Scent still maintains that sweet malty note, some fruit notes, like American pear, or guava. Texture is slightly creamy, tasting notes have a sour tinge on the tongue, which in my opinion is unpleasant. Then it has a characteristic black tea sweetness that shows itself on the center of the tongue. Hmm, that sourness is really taking over the initial flavor. Still spiced and nutty on the finish.
Color and scent is pretty similar on the third infusion. Flavor has mellowed out. Still a bit sour, sweetness comes after. Still some nuttiness on the finish, but other than that, the third infusion is more boring and flat. Still an unpleasant sour tinge on the sides of the tongues.

Rating: 2.5/5

This is the black tea version of the Bi Luo Chun that comes with the Yunnan Sourcing First Steps tea sampler. I have tried this tea once before, and I didn’t like it then, and I am not much of a fan now. It has a strong sweetness characteristic of black tea, but I am just not that big a fan of that flavor. The flavor was best on the first infusion, but quickly decreased in quality after that. This brew session revealed quite a strong sour note that became the dominating flavor. Perhaps something went wrong with the brew, but I was pretty gentile with my settings with a relatively low temperature for black tea, and a short brew time. Either way, the flavor, while arguable interesting on the first and perhaps second brew, grew flat very quickly. Unpleasant sour notes that take over the flavor. Although, not much bitterness or astringency.

Tea Seller’s Description

This lovely tea is a classic Yunnan black tea grown in Ning'er county of Simao. This has been picked as 1 leaf to 1 bud sets and processed carefully by rolling the tea into pellets. Like most Yunnan black teas, the tea benefits from short-term aging and develops a malty sweet taste and lovely fragrance with a hint of chocolate and flowers.

Spring & Autumn Harvest can differ a bit. Spring is a little less tippy gold, but taste is more robust. Autumn is more tippy gold and a bit more easy-going and sweet in taste. With age (Spring 2019) it develops a bit more honey mellowness. If in doubt about which one you'd like, try a small amount of each!

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