Today’s blog is about the two white teas included in the Quantitea 12 Loose Leaf Starter Tea Set, starting with the Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yinzhen) a beautiful fuzzy bud tea from Fujian. I love Silver Needle steeped grandpa style, and really steeping things western style is similar to grandpa style, so it is no surprise that this tea works really well in this fashion. The aroma of the silvery needles is a blend of pollen, cucumbers, sweet honey and apricot, with a touch of lettuce and wildflowers at the finish. It is delicate and light while being very distinct.
Into the steeping basket the tea goes for a nice steeping, the aroma of the not so fuzzy leaves is sweet stuff, like honey drenched cucumber and melon with applies, apricots and a crisp lettuce finish. The liquid is light and sweet, with notes of honey and apples and a touch of lettuce. I am really liking the apple notes, not something I run into too often.
It looks like liquid gold, I never get tired of looking at silver needle, so pretty! The taste is wonderfully light and sweet, I love how you can put silver needle through its paces and it never gets bitter, the only time I have had one get bitter was due to overleafing, but water temperature and time is so easy to play with. It starts with notes of honey and pollen with a wildflower edge to it, then it moves to apples and apricot, and the finish is crisp lettuce and a cooling note of cucumber. It is very refreshing and takes multiple steeps, later steeps being sweeter and less green.
For blog, photos, and other random rambling: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/04/quantitea-silver-needle-bai-hao-yinzhen.html
