In my first sourcing trip I traveled to meet a friend in Dong Ting, right outside of suzhou, home to Bi Luo Chun. My friend helped me make a video about my time living with him and his family. (ok he did all the work).

In this video, you will not only take a walk through Dong Ting, see all the tea trees but you will also see how Bi Luo Chun is traditionally made. Notice how everything is done by hand, even the tea making machine is controlled by my friends father as he stir fries the tea leaves.

For those that don’t know Bi Luo Chun is a green tea from Suzhou, Zhejiang, China. The leaves are picked very young and worked into small balls by hand. The flavor of Bi Luo Chun is nutty, vegetal with some strength.

The stir frying of Bi Luo Chun is done completely by hand. When stir frying tea the heat is very important. When the tea leaves first hit the wok, the temperature is at its highest. This is when the tea leaves will loose their moisture. Over time you see the tea leaves start to change color from a strong green to a lighter white hued green. Around this time the farmer takes off his glove and works the tea with his bare hands. In the beginning, the glove protected him from the high heat, but for this step, it is crucial that he feels just how dry and tender the leaves are so he knows how to work them.

For more information on Bi Luo Chun and my travels throughout China visit, http://www.thesweetestdew.com