mrawlins2

mrawlins2 drank Silver Needle Premium by Rishi Tea

Courtesy of the TTB 1.2

I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think I would like this tea but since I was using the TTB as an opportunity to try teas that I normally wouldn’t purchase, I grabbed a bit. The leaves are absolutely adorable – long, slender, green, and super fuzzy. After looking at several reviews to help me determine how to prep this tea, I pinched out around 2 TB of leaves and added water that was just under boiling.

The resulted liquid is pale gold, but lacking the notorious shiny hairs due to my superfine Chatsford infuser (I will be brewing these free next time…I want hairs in my mug too!) The scent is very light, slightly sweet and reminds me of hay with a hint of warm, dew-covered grass. The tea tastes pretty sweet and like warm hay, but it works for this tea. This is way better than I thought it would be as it is very flavorful and smooth with no bitterness or astringency. I’m not sure I would seek out Silver Needles in the future, but I would be open to it.

2010-07-16 23:57:28 -0400

4 min 0 sec

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Cofftea 2010-07-17 09:14:41 -0400

You want hairs in your tea? You sure are a tea drinker of a different cup. (A VERY good thing though lol) I get sweet and dew, but never hay. Is that what is keeping you from buying it again?

mrawlins2 2010-07-17 16:27:07 -0400

I think after my 4th pot of this last night that I definitely would buy this again and will be soon boosting the rating a tad. It isn’t really that I want hairs in my tea, but after reading all the reviews where people were talking about the little shiny hairs left in the liquid after decanting I felt a bit left out. I just think they would be pretty…but maybe kind of gross at the same time.

Cofftea 2010-07-17 18:44:13 -0400

Haha you could aways take a pic of them floating (you’re right, it would be pretty), then strain and drink:)

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Bio

I am a former coffee drinker turned tea lover.

Black tea is probably my favorite type of tea, but I rather enjoy most types… I’m even developing a taste for pu-erh.

Rating Scale:
0-10: This tea is either flavorless or just plain undrinkable. I will avoid these teas in the future.

11-20: I was only able to make it through a few sips before pouring the tea out.

21-30: I may have been able to make it through the first cup but the thought of having another has me cringing.

31-40: Teas in this range are not horrible, but nothing I would seek out in the future.

41-60: Would drink if offered, but would not purchase for myself.

61-70: Okay, nothing special

71-80: Enjoyable, but I have to be in the mood for these. Probably would purchase if I found a really great price.

81-90: Pretty good tea, will probably be one of my favorites.

91-95: These teas are really excellent. I wouldn’t necessarily run out and buy more of these (just because there are so many teas out there that I haven’t tried), but I would miss this tea.

96-99: Terrific, very impressive.

100: This special rating is reserved for teas that are absolutely perfect in my opinion. I will only give out a rating of 100 to one tea per category (Earl Grey, unflavored black, dessert tea, Irish Breakfast, etc). These are teas that I really want to have around.

Perfect Teas so Far:

Earl Grey: Saint Isaac’s Blend (Russian Earl Grey) from Upton

Dessert Tea: Marco Polo from Mariage Freres

Unflavored Black: Emperor’s Red from Premium Steap