Silver Needle White Tea | Fuding Bai Hao Yin Zhen

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.

I drink white tea regurarly from several years, it's always comforting and relaxing, but this Silver Needle has a its own special allure. Under the white fur the long buds are green and this is a sign of freshness. As written on the Jing blog this tea is made in a traditional way that involves four days of withering to achieve the right level of oxidation, allowing the tea to fully develop its body. I expected it to be more delicate and subtle than White Peony, instead its fragrance is very powerful with a lot of complxity and amoatic facets. It has the tipycal "silky" caracter of white tea but while White Peony is malty and woody, Silver Needle is fruity and gentle, with a very long sweet finish. A luxurious tea to be enjoyed in glass teaware, ideal for a relaxed afternoon (I think it's perfect in warm and wet summer days). Once you open the bag you should not let the tea rest for months as it will loose some of its voluptuous scents.

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 haven’t met a white tea that I haven’t liked. Some are definitely better than others and this offering from JING Tea is in a class by itself. This is a light refreshing tea that I can picture myself sipping at all hours. Just about any time that I want a treat. Grown in Fujian China, the first spring buds of the Da-Bai tea plant were picked by the end of March this year. My sample consisted of light green tips covered with the white hairs that are characteristic of Silver Needle teas with no broken leaves. The scent of the dry leaves is pure tea with just a hint of both cucumbers and melon. Almost reminds me of my favorite scent for candles. I wasn’t able to find brewing instructions on JING’s website so I guessed on the best temperature and amounts of dried leaves. I settled on 1 ½ teaspoons of dry leaves which I brewed at 185F degrees for 3 minutes. The result liquor is almost clear with just a bit of green. The aroma is rather interesting in that one moment I am reminded of spinach, the next peaches and then melon. The taste is multi-layered and changes as it cools. When freshly brewed, the taste is light and clear with a tinge of citrus as it cools the taste becomes deeper and darker. I am now able to pick up honeydew melon. At all times, there is a lingering sweetness that sticks around for just a bit. I highly recommend this tea for anyone that enjoys a good white tea. And for those that want to try out white teas. Why not start with the best?