Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: large jade green with silver hairs
Ingredients: white teas
Steep time: 3 minutes
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: glass gaiwan
Liquor: very pale
I was really intrigued by the brewing directions for this selection on Zhen Tea’s website. So many times I’ve seen it repeated that white tea needs lower temperature water or it will become bitter. The truth is that a good quality white tea can stand up to and even shine using boiling water. However, poor quality teas will show their faults unless treated delicately. Their recommended leaf to water ratio was 3g to 150ml. Most of my pots are quite a bit smaller so I went with my glass gaiwan since it is fairly close to that size. At first the taste was sweet but very subtle. As I drank, I was blown away by complex floral and fruity aromas. Fresh meadow hay, spring flowers and peaches all came to mind. I lost track of how many infusions I drank but this was a bit of an energizer bunny tea. It just kept going and going. When the aromas finally did start to fade, there was still a pleasant sweetness that kept me sipping. This tea is a great value considering that I was able to get all of that from only 3g of leaves.
To find out more about silver needle, check out my Meet the Tea post!
Bai Hao Yin Zhen sample provided by Zhen Tea.