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“The cleanest cup of tea (in my opinion). According to Red Blossom, you should pour some hot water over the leaves to “wash” them and throw away the liquid. I usually just brew an initial cup at 180...” Read full tasting note
“Sipdown no. 105 of 2018 (no. 461 total). As a cold tea, it’s not just water and indeed is rather tasty. This is a pattern for me. Cold brew probably brings out the flavor of white tea in a way that...” Read full tasting note
“Makes a very nice cup of delicate white tea. I usually make a two infusions. and the second infusion is just as nice as the first. I usually use my IngenuiTea for brewing and it easily filters...” Read full tasting note
“This is a very nice tea. Not yet a favorite, but a pleasantly sweet subtle flavor that persists in the mouth but is not even slightly acrid. It makes a great pot to relax with at the end of the...” Read full tasting note
Our Silver Needle Reserve Grade is the absolute best “Bai Hao Yin Zhen” we have imported to date. We began with hand-picked down-covered leaf buds from Fuding County’s Da Bai tea tree, harvested late. We selected only those buds that exhibit exceptional floral aromatics.
The leaves are then “faded” for exactly 36 hours before they are gently baked. This “fade” time results in a bright, flowery tea that brings to mind fresh cut roses, apricot blossoms and sweet alpine water. The aroma lingers long after the leaves are spent. The mouth feel is light, absolutely smooth and without any astringency, the taste sweet and lingering.
Water Temperature: 185°, or when small bubbles begin to form and steam is more visible.
Brewing Instructions: Use 1.5 tablespoons (double for a medium sized pot). Rinse tea for 1 second. Discard rinse water. Steep for 1-2 minutes. May be infused multiple times.
Recommended Method: Gaiwan, Ceramic Teapot, Infuser
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The cleanest cup of tea (in my opinion). According to Red Blossom, you should pour some hot water over the leaves to “wash” them and throw away the liquid. I usually just brew an initial cup at 180 degrees (which is a light, but definitely nice cup) and then keep brewing subsequent cups using a basket or strainer (as well as adding a bit more leaves).
Sometimes while I’m working, I’ll forget about the brewing cup, and this tea holds up well past the recommended 2 mins to 4-5 mins even longer. I’ve had cups that brewed at 10 minutes and the result is a rich golden, but still very clean and tasty cup.
I like Silver Needle Reserve as my primary tea, and prefer it over green tea. It’s too bad the price for it has tripled in price (it’s been a bad year for food crops) but the leaves go a long way. I have yet to try the regular Silver Needle…
Sipdown no. 105 of 2018 (no. 461 total).
As a cold tea, it’s not just water and indeed is rather tasty. This is a pattern for me. Cold brew probably brings out the flavor of white tea in a way that hot water is supposed to but doesn’t for me. Which makes me wonder whether I should just heat up the cold brew to understand how white tea is really supposed to taste?
I’ve found in the past, with silver needle it can help if you overleaf and keep the steep shorter. But ymmv!
Thanks! Actually, shorter steep times and cooler water get me no flavor at all. I typically measure white teas by weight not by volume, so I put in 2.5 grams per cup which is a huge amount of by volume.
Generally, I have to steep as though they are herbals to get any flavor, color, and aroma at all with a plain silver needle.
Makes a very nice cup of delicate white tea. I usually make a two infusions. and the second infusion is just as nice as the first. I usually use my IngenuiTea for brewing and it easily filters out the large needles/leaves and results in a very clean cup of tea. This is a delicate white tea and as such may not meet the expectations of people who are used to drinking flavored/strong teas.
