Spiral Jade a.k.a. bi luo chun a.k.a. pi lo chun

[spot52]

I'm looking for some spiral jade (a.k.a. bi luo chun or pi lo chun). I know there are plenty of places to get it from, but
does anyone have company suggestions? (from experience)

[spot52]

seriously? no one had tried this tea from a vendor they would recommend?

[Oni]

I see you are on a similar quest as I am with Tai Ping Hou Kui. I suggest making a list with the teashops you find trustworthy to carry the absolute best real Bi Luo Chun, since hojo doesn`t carry it, I suggest Dragon teahouse, they say theirs is the original from the right place, Teaspring offers those enigmatic antifake certificates, and Jingteashop sells AAA grade, they are good too.
P.S. Try watching the video podcast from sevencups that talks about Bi Luo Chun and that clarifies some issues about which is the best, as I remember there are two diffrent kind.
http://www.sevencups.com/2008/05/bi-luo ... o-podcast/

[Rainy-Day]

I liked BLC from hou de but at a later time I ordered another bag and didn't like it as much. I don't think it was a different harvest. I preferred their Hao Xian Bi Lu, and in fact it's almost exactly the same as BLC in taste, so I would definitely recommend them, except they now have the '09 harvest and I only tried '08! But it's probably worth trying if nobody comes up with a better advice. I generally find it a bit frustrating that this "type" of green tea taste is so elusive. I once had Buddha Tea from IPOT that had this exact flavour signature - fairly complex, subtle, sweet and gentle without any of usual green tea slight off-taste. The next time I ordered it from them it was completely different, and in fact quite bad (and not cheap). My next favorite green that approached this ideal taste was the BLC from Hou De I mentioned. The next one was Hou Xian Bi Lu from hou de. Then I got a free sample of a Long Jing from someone on tea usenet group and it wasn't like other Long Jings I tried that have some pleasant hay/yellow tea flavour, but very similar to the first, good Buddha Tea. Then I got many different greens from Jing Tea Shop and none were excellent, and the BLC (not their most expensive one but not cheap either) was very disappointing. Then I got a bunch of greens from Teaspring and I liked many of them, but none were similar to that Buddha Tea/BLC/Long Jing that I liked. Their cheap Long Jing is really great, though, but it's that hay/yellow tea type of Long Jing.

All in all I think chinese greens are really great at best but aren't reliable, unlike whites, oolongs, japanese greens, most blacks and puerhs (and in fact also yellows and Darjeelings). I think chinese greens is the only type of tea that's consistently unreliable. Too bad I love them so much :-(.

[Oni]

I think sevencups has one of the best representative for this type of tea, I like those vendors that mention the teamasters name, and even better to send pictures with the people who make it, you feel like getting something special.

[beachape]

BiLuoChun is my favorite chinese green.

fairly complex, subtle, sweet and gentle without any of usual green tea slight off-taste.

-I find that many Chinese greens will get a slight dirty/fishy taste if steeped too long or too many times. Not just low quality ones. BiLuoChun seems to avoid this "off-taste" and can be more forgiving in brew time. Sorry I don't know any good places to order state-side, but good luck in your search!

[silverneedles]

Dominic @ RFDT liked BLC quite a bit, try asking the q there too

[spot52]

Thanks for the info teachatters, I do appreciate it. Hopefully I can track one down I like. (my local shop quit carrying it)

[TokyoB]

I also agree that Seven Cups generally has very good Chinese greens although they can be rather expensive.

[DoctorD]

I'm currently drinking a sturdy little Pi Lo Chun from enjoyingtea.com. Very reasonably priced--not a world-beater, by any means, but if your budget is limited you could do worse. If you want top of the line, by all means try sevencups (and pay 5 times as much).

[Proinsias]

I just opened a pack of the AAA stuff from JingTeaShop today and it was lovely, not quite as good as the stuff Tenuki sent me last year but pretty fecking good.

I've only had a few cups but I think it might be my favourite green tea so far this year. It's also very forgiving if you mess up the brewing, which is pretty standard fare for me.

[spot52]

Thanks for the additional info on this wonderful tea!!!