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“I decided to add more leaf to the pot this time – about 50% more than I usually do – and really liked the outcome! It was much more buttery, and had something approaching a starchy flavor which...” Read full tasting note
“This weeks Canton Tea Clubs tea is Silver Needle (Yin Zhen). It’s strange but I have been craving a lot of white tea the moment so it’s very fitting. The leaves whilst raw smell slightly sweet and...” Read full tasting note
“Silver Needles are beginning to bore me… It’s almost like the new Earl Grey – everyone seems to have one, ya know!? BUT… Canton has a LOVELY Silver Needle! Very crisp and clean and YUMMY! Makes...” Read full tasting note
“After a long run of flavored teas, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to get back to basics a bit. Ahhh… yes, this is good. I love to poor white tea out into a little glass bowl and marvel...” Read full tasting note
This high grade Fuding Silver Needle is entirely made up of soft, plump young ‘needles’ or immature leaf buds that are densely covered in tiny silvery hairs. Very high in antioxidants, the buds are hand- picked at dawn and scattered in the sun to dry. The liquor is the colour of champagne and has a light creamy, delicate taste with sweet notes of melon. Try nibbling on a bud of this top Silver Needle after infusion: it will be sweet and delicious, unlike lower quality Silver Needle which can be bitter and woody.
Our Buyer’s notes
“This very good quality tea comes from Fuding, Fujian province. The farmer won the gold medal for Yin Zhen at this year’s international tea competition in Las Vegas.”
Canton Tea Co is a London-based tea company trading in high grade, whole leaf Chinese tea. We have exclusive access to some of the best jasmine, white, green, oolong, black and authentic puerh teas available. In our first year, we scooped Six Golds at the 2009 Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Our Jasmine Pearls won the top three star gold award, endorsing it as the best available in the UK.
The first time I cupped this one I stopped after one potato-ey, disappointing steep. My impatience has proven to be folly because this one gets nicer as you go along. It’s not the most delicately imperceptible Silver Needle, but nuanced enough and very durable. Pleasant florals come out with each steep (short, gongfu style) that add complexity to a grassy, relatively straightforward, though sturdy, tea.
Review by Leslie: “I’m sure I’ve had a silver needle before, but I don’t have any recollection of it. I brewed it for 2 min’s at 175 degrees. After the allotted time brewing the coloring as surprisingly fair. The lightest hint of gold, it was almost barely there. Holding it up to the light, there was a warm glow, but I had to double check that I had prepared…”
Read the full review at http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/678/tea-review-canton-tea-silver-needle-bai-hao-yin-zhen/
This has been on the shelf in my white tea tin gathering fuzz. Oh wait, it already has fuzz. Yes, this is the fuzziest of Silver Needles I have yet come across. You got it, fuzz is a desired trait on Silver Needle leaves. I brewed it a little longer and a lighter temp. The result was a light, floral, nutty, and creamy cup with a melon note. Wow, just like the description of Silver Needle’s typical taster notes. A very good offering.
Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2010/07/25/review-canton-tea-co-fuding-bai-hao-yin-zhen-silver-needle-white-tea/
Wow! This is the first time I have tried a white tea. I must say I am plesantly surprised! When I poured it out, at first I was scared I hadn’t steeped it long enough! But then I smelled it, and it smelled wonderful. The first taste is very floral and the lingering taste is very mildly green. I was disapointed in Canton’s Vietnamese Pu erh tea, but this more than makes up for it!
Sipdown no. 121 of 2018 (no. 477 total). A sample.
I took this to work on Thursday. I hadn’t yet figured out what my next take it to work tea would be, and so this was an interim pick.
True confession: I still don’t know what my next take it to work tea will be. But this got me through a very tough, very busy day.
Thank you, Yin Zhen (Silver Needle)!
