Silver Needle White Tea

this is really good tea. in every aspect.
visually it's a ten. it's so fluffy!.
the smell of dry leaves is just heavenly.
and the taste is like a white tea should be. complex but easy. the melony sweetness is in front. a light grassy tone. and it just fills your mouth with full bodied flavour. this will be my main white no doubt

This makes a lovely cup of tea. I've tried Silver Needle from other online retailers, and have to say this one is my favourite. Silver Needle is naturally light and refreshing, but I've found the taste of others to be a little too non-existant. However, Jing Silver Needle has a more earthy taste that still retains the sweetness and lightness that makes Silver Needle so enjoyable.

my bests attempts at making this delicate tea. I infused
a tablespoon of leaves in warm water using my little glass
teapot I recently brought from the site, which holds up
well, i'm saying that because I tend to break these kind
of items and its still whole so theres an achievement.

after 30 seconds I poured away this infusion, I've come to
do this as a habit of washing the leaves. I poured over more
warm water and let it infuse for 2 mins which i timed on
a timer.

I also got one of those fancy gaiwan cups i think its called
had to get the white one cos the other one was out of stock,
plus a pitcher which i poured the infused tea into.

After pouring it into my gaiwan cup I first smelt the tea which
delivered a very fresh and sweet like aroma. upon taking my first
sip I got the hints of a creamy melon like flavour, which sank into
a light-bodied taste that washed down the back of my throat leaving
behind notes of a creamy sweetness I can only detail as honey-like.

The second infusion was pretty much a weaker version of the first
but it still held up to that wonderous creamy fresh taste, but been
a novice i'm still experimenting with steeping times, and 2nd and 3rd
infusion times, for now I can only seem to get a reasonable first cup
but in time hope to perfect the art of tea making.

I didn't taste any bitterness that i've had from other teas which usually
is a note of oversteeping so i'm impressed with this fine Silver Needle tea
that i've had the pleasure of sampling out of the explorer set.

Will most likely order this one as my main white tea, yet i've got afew others
to try yet but this ones at the top of my list at this moment in time.

I always like Silver Needles, but each time I come across one, I think to myself: could this really be any different than the others I've had? It may just be that I'm finally getting the temperature and steeping down just right, or it may be that this particular silver needle is superior, but this is one of the nicest white teas I've had in some time.

These particular buds were harvested in March '09, coming from the Fuding region. They are are on the extreme side of tippy, with most of the long leaves bursting with plump fluffiness. Color-wise, there may be a bit more green to these leaves, as compared with some of the ultra-fine grade Bai Hao Yinzhen, but to my non-expert palette, I find it exquisite nonetheless. The dried leaves are more aromatic than any other silver needle in recent memory. JING's comparison to various melon fruits appears to be on the mark. A snack consisting of nibbling a half dozen of these leaves reveals a good flavor with a hint of wooden bitterness on the finish.

I began with a gentle temperature - I'm guessing around 140-150 degrees, and a 2 minute brew. The cup retains a heady aroma, more pungent than most on memory, and more earthy than the scent of the dried buds. The flavor is bold for a white, and I'd strongly recommend this to those with aversion to white teas, as they may take to it with a whole new light. It retains a sweetness throughout the cup, and it comes through strongly on the finish, virtually rolling off the tip of the tongue.

A second infusion with significantly hotter water and a 2.5 minute infusion brought a drastically different experience. It has taken on a toastier, almost burnt-like quality on the nose. In the cup, the flavor is much earthier, more woody, and has all but lost that sweetness from the first cup. Despite the fact that this was clearly the result of an error on my part in temperature and potentially brewing time, the results were not bad. Merely a different animal than the first cup. Ultimately the first cup was preferable, though.

A third infusion at lower temp and for just 60 seconds was fairly unsatisfactory, so I kept it going for another 60 seconds. The results were slightly better and tastier than cup #2, but not nearly as nice as the first cup, nor as flavorful as the second.

Although this didn't hold up to my expectations for multiple infusions, I believe further experimentation and more careful attention to times and temperatures would reveal several satisfactory steepings. In all, this tea is top notch when properly done.

I used to drink massive amounts of strong black tea with milk in and one day I just switched to drinking green tea using tea bags from the supermarket. Then I discovered this website and haven't looked back. I bought a tea pot and started with the green gunpowder tea and a few other fancy ones but, now I've discovered this silver needle white tea and I can't get enough of it. I'm not a big fan of the super flowery flavours or the grassy greens so this one suits me, it's delicate and refreshing with absolutely no bitterness and I drink it from the moment I wake up until I go to bed - I Love it! Don't ever give me dust in a bag again. Thank you Jing Tea! PS the white peony and rosebud is lush too.