Pi lo chun or Green Snail Spring is a unique green tea treat. Chinese tea artisans use a twist on basket frying of produce this special tea. Chinese emperors enjoyed drinking this tea and demanded the highest quality for tax payment. This tea tastes like a fresh spring day.

Using a bud and leaf, young women pick the tea in the early spring. Once tea is transported to the factory, it is laid out on bamboo mats to dry. When moisture content is 65-70 percent, the leaves are put through drying machines. The leaves are then transferred to a metal drum. Instead of tossing the leaves, tea artisans repeat 5 motions 3 times, twisting and rolling the leaves in the drum.  The twisting and rolling motions gives  the leaf a tiny tail. The heat source below the drum, slowly heats up and down. This style of is called baked tea, even though it is not heated in an enclosed space. A combination of air drying and the heat changing, makes the tea dry evenly. Ultimately, the tea firer is trying to coax the leaf into a naturally dry relaxed shape and seal in the flavor at the right time. When you rehydrate the leaf, you release the leaf’s natural energy.

Its flavor is a mild, with a slightly nutty flavor. Brews sweet light golden nectar. Brew 2 teaspoons per 8 oz. of filtered water for 2-3 minutes in 175-180 degree water. Green tea naturally contains fluoride, which protects teeth from cavities.