Jiangsu Dongting

China

The Dongting Mountains along the shores of Lake Tai in Jiangsu Province produce Bi Luo Chun, one of China's most esteemed green teas. Tea bushes here are traditionally interplanted with fruit trees — peach, plum, and apricot — whose blossoms infuse a subtle natural fruity fragrance into the tea leaves. The tiny, tightly spiraled leaves are harvested exclusively in early spring, requiring over 60,000 hand-picked buds per kilogram. Authentic Dongting Bi Luo Chun has a delicate, fruity sweetness with a fresh vegetal finish and produces a pale green liquor with an intensely aromatic nose.