Silver Needles White tea of Feng Qing * Spring 2016

I like white tea, but never seem to buy or drink much of it, possibly because I’m still unsure about the brewing parameters. Do you do long steeps at 175F, short steeps in boiling water, or something in between? The end result is that I tend to go with none of the above.

I decided to brew 5 g of this tea in a 120 ml teapot at 185F for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, followed by a really long soak to get all the flavour.

The first steep has mild notes of hay, wood, soybeans, linen, apricot, and grain, and a wonderfully long aftertaste that intensifies the fruit. The second steep ramps up the flavours and weirdly makes me think I’m drinking pencil shavings. This is a sweet and woody tea.

As the session goes on, I get notes of banana, herbs, and minerals, and the tea gradually loses its intensity. I don’t get any cinnamon or spice notes.

This is a tasty white tea that I’ll enjoy finishing. Maybe I’ll even discover the right way to brew it.

Begins with a very smooth, buttery taste for the first few steepings. With further steepings, it takes on a primarily hay flavour, which I’m personally not fond of, hence my rating, but the first steepings were very nice. The cinnamon spice and fruity flavours advertised were extremely subtle.