Silver Needle

Dear Silver Needle:

Thank you for keeping me company on my commute this morning.

I very much appreciated that you were not planty or heavy, like your colleague, White Symphony. Thank you for being light, dewy and nectar-y today.

Now could you please do just a little more of what you’re doing? Just a tad more flavor would be nice. Sometimes I felt as though I was drinking water with a few drops of sugar stirred in.

If I used to know more about white tea, I have forgotten most of what I knew. I don’t believe I’ve really tasted many silver needles, so despite my sincere thanks, I do think I will be playing the field a while longer.

When we next meet, I’ll be sipping you down, so you should prepare yourself.

XXXOOOXXXOOO,

Me

So, I didn’t get to taste this infusion, but this tea absolutely saved me today.
I crushed my finger in the automatic car window today and broke the bone. Serious serious pain. Also, gross alert, I know this is a tea review website, not a med school bandage review site or something.
So, my crushed bleeding finger is looking awful, I’m screaming and my sister gets me back in the car and hurries to the ER. Without really thinking about it (again, serious pain), I unscrew the lid to the travel mug that I was cold steeping this tea loose in and stick my hand in.
I kid you not, the tea seriously helped. The cold was soothing and there were so many leaves in there it made a kind of herbal leaf layer around my hand that soothed it as best as one could hope.
I’ve got a splint now and actual medical painkillers for the break and all, but for the first few hours of terrible? It was all Silver Needle, babe. This is my new favorite tea.
…
If only I had gotten to drink it :( No way I could do that after having it open with my fingers in it in a hospital.
Long story short – Silver Needle and I are now bffs. <3

Soooo. I forgot about this one while I was steeping it. Like I acknowledged the timer, and flipped it off, and then somehow I let the tea keep steeping. So it went about 5-6 minutes.

Luckily, it’s still good. A little bit of astringency in the cup, but no bitterness. It’s far more potent with the extra time. The graeen elements to the flavor are more vegetal and artichokey and less like the sweet hay present in shorter steeps, but the honeysuckle flavor is still delightful and prominent.

Refreshing and hits the spot.

I’ve tried this before in a sample pack I had back when I first started drinking whole leaf tea. I didn’t write a note, though. It might actually have been before I joined Steepster. Anyway, Silver Needle is one of my favourite varieties of white tea. I love the creamy green, downy buds, the smoothly floral scent, and the honeyed texture. It’s a tea that appeals to my senses.

Dry, the scent is lightly grassy with a delicate floral edge, almost like honeysuckle. Just the smell of this tea makes me think of spring, which is why I finally broke it out tonight. I’ve had enough of winter, and it looks like it might (finally!) be over.

Brewed, the liquor is very pale champagne-yellow, and the smell is delicately equally delicately floral. There’s a slight grassy note as well, but I have to sniff deeply to pick that up. The taste is very similar. Dew-like honeysuckle, and a flavour I find unique to white tea, almost like an unripe banana.

I find this tea great for helping me to calm down and relax for some reason, maybe because it’s so subtle and gentle. I’m definetly taking some of this to work with me tomorrow — we’ve got a manic week ahead and I’ll need all the help I can get to survive it. All I can say to sum up this tea is that it’s simply sublime. I luffs it.

TastyBrew sent me this and then i drank it!
i’m not sensitive enough to be able to tell much about a silver needle tea.
but what’s not to like about a silver needle tea?!
it’s easy to love!

Fourth steep now. And its after midnight. I’m even thinking i might try steeping it in the morning :D
I almost feel sorry for this tea. Hope it won’t feel over-used lol…

The dry leaves smell a little like bread dough. The taste is very light with a hint of grass and a smooth finish. Uhm…. yeah I like how soft the buds are, I just wish I had more then 2oz.

I’m not even sure about number ratings, anymore. Or……well, I think I’m going to add the rating after I drink the full cup, or at least halfway through. Random little side note.

Azzrian, this is one of yours. Thanks! :-)

Smell: Dry, this was grassy. Steeping, there is only one scent I can compare it to, and it is going to sound strange but…spinach. Cooked, of course, but yeah, that’s what it reminded me of. And I was slightly turned off for a moment, but then I reminded myself that it doesn’t mean the tea is going to taste bad. Or like spinach. It’s just a grassy tea.

Taste: Grassy, kind of reminding me of green tea a bit, and plant-like. Some other reviews mentioned honeysuckle, and after adding my desired sugar amount, and a tad bit of honey, this is definitely true. It’s a very sweet, floral taste, with almost a honey (before adding more, and after) taste, and I really like it. It’s not overly vegetal, and again, it’s sweeter to me, and I like that. It’s a wonderful balance, and it’s white, so it’s a lighter tea. Nice for afternoon, and good for me as I’m trying to relax.

I guess now would be a good time to note that most of my tasting notes are written after only tasting a few first sips. Most of my good teas though get better deeper in, but don’t change so much that I have to go back and completely re-write a note. So another side note. I do those a lot. Sorry! :)

Finishing the review, not even half a cup done yet, but I think I can rate, and high, too. :-) Nice, soothing cup!

Interesting – most of the time I find that Adagio’s steeping recommendations are too high but in the case of this tea 7 minutes might not be too much at all. This cup was steeped for 5 minutes and while I am getting some flavour – delicate sweet hay – it’s pretty faint.

I’ve had this sample for a very long time, and I usually use them to just add to the Teavana flavored white tea. but today, I decided to try drinking the sample again and see if i still don’t like it, or just simply because my sense of smell has been non-existant, and so my taste has been off.

The color is very light, though I think it’s a little more yellow than it should be. Hard to tell. The taste is very bland, I’m probably dealing with really unfresh tea here. guess the adagio tins aren’t that great for long term storage. Definitely drinkable, and since I need a major detox right now it’s perfect.

I remember when I first had this sample tin, it tasted very much like vegetables, and vegetables that I’m not fond of. The aftertaste was odd as well, and all I could think of is I hope that not all silver needle tastes this way. I love flavored white teas to death, but if this is what true white tea tastes like I guess I won’t be drinking any…ever.