Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: pale green, covered in silver hairs
Ingredients: white tea
Steep time: 3 minutes
Water Temperature: 165 degrees
Preparation Method: glass teapot
Liquor: pale gold
Many tea drinkers struggle with silver needle because until your taste buds have been trained for tea a bit, it might just taste like nothing at all. The flavor is extremely delicate but once you can pick up those hidden complexities it’s a real treat. Even though this isn’t +TeaVivre‘s highest grade silver needle, I thought that the leaves were super fluffy and pretty. At first the taste was very, very light. The mouth-feel was incredibly soft. That’s because all of those silver hairs wind up in your cup. Don’t worry, tea won’t give you hairballs! I tend to let my white tea leaves sit in the water without a strainer. It won’t really get bitter or unpleasant, especially when using lower temperature water. Notes of sweet hay and melon popped up along with a lingering floral finish. This silver needle is middle of the range as far as price goes. I wouldn’t call it a daily drinker but it’s fair for the level of quality.
Silver Needle White Tea 2014 sample provided by Teavivre.