Understanding Tea

Biluochun Tea: Origin, Varieties, Benefits, and How to Choose

Biluochun Tea (碧螺春), also known as Pi Lo Chun, is a type of green tea that originated from the Dongting mountain region near Lake Tai in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The tea is renowned for its fruity taste, delicate appearance, floral aroma, and showy white hairs. The tea’s name is derived from its appearance, as it is rolled into a tight spiral resembling snail meat and cropped in early spring. The name Biluochun literally means “green snail spring.”

Image: The shape of Bi Luo Chun tea leaves is spiral, which is achieved by rolling tea leaves into tight spirals.

Origin

Biluochun Tea’s original name was Xia Sha Ren Xiang, which means “scary fragrance.” According to legend, the tea’s discovery happened when a tea picker ran out of space in her basket and put the tea between her breasts instead. The tea, warmed by her body heat, emitted a strong aroma that surprised the girl. When the Kangxi Emperor visited Lake Tai during his reign, he decided to give the tea a more elegant name, “Green Snail Spring,” because of its rich aroma.

Varieties

Biluochun Tea is highly regarded by Chinese tea experts, with Zhen Jun ranking it first among Chinese green teas in his tea encyclopedia Cha Shuo. One kilogram of Dong Ting Bi Luo Chun consists of 14,000 to 15,000 tea shoots. The tea is cultivated in Dongting Mountains near Lake Tai in Suzhou, Jiangsu. Biluochun from Dong Shan (East Mountain) or Xi Shan (West Mountain) is considered the best, but the tea is also grown in Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces. Lastly, Biluochun is grown on the island of Taiwan, specifically at Sanxia District, New Taipei City.

Grade

Biluochun Tea is divided into seven grades in decreasing order of quality: Supreme, Supreme I, Grade I, Grade II, Grade III, Chao Qing I, and Chao Qing II. The price of Biluochun Tea varies greatly depending on its quality, with the best Biluochun tea priced around CNY 200 per 50 grams in China, while the price of the most commonly seen mid-level qualified Biluochun is about CNY 130.

Benefits

Benefits of Biluochun Tea:

  1. Keep excited: Biluochun Tea contains caffeine, which excites the central nervous system of the human body, helps people lift their spirits, improves thinking, eliminates fatigue, and improves work or study efficiency.
  2. Lose weight: Compounds in Biluochun tea like caffeine, inositol, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and some aromatic substances help regulate fat metabolism; TP and vitamin C can lower cholesterol and blood lipids.
  3. Prevent cancer: Flavonoids in tea (mulberry pigment and catechins) have different degrees of anti-cancer effects.
  4. Prevent decayed tooth: Tea leaves contain fluorine and fluorine ions, which trigger a chemical reaction with teeth calcium and produce a substance called “fluorine apatite” difficult to dissolve in acid. Thus, it is like adding a protective layer to the teeth, improving the teeth’s anti-acid and anti-caries ability.
  5. Antibacterial, antimicrobial properties: Tea polyphenols (TP) and tannic acid can solidify bacteria protein to kill bacteria.
  6. Diuretic effect: The caffeine and theophylline in tea leaves have a diuretic effect, which can be used to treat edema and water-hysteretic tumor.
  7. Prevent arteriosclerosis: TP and vitamin C in Biluochun Tea promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. Studies have shown that people

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