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Jasmine Silver Needle from Samovar

Steepster Score 5 Ratings Rate This Tea

83/100

Jasmine Silver Needle

White Tea by Samovar

Origin: Fujian, China

Flavor Profile: Light and mildly savory notes of hay with a heady, fragrant sweetness of jasmine blossom.

Tea Story: The first time Chistine drank this tea, she was swept away buy the desire to take a bath it! So delightful are the aromas that arise from your tea cup. Floral, slightly sweet, delicate, lightly caffeinated, and sooo soothing. White teas are known to be high in antioxidants, while jasmine is known for its relaxing qualities. Think of this tea as medicine: a delicious, aromatic remedy to all the day’s stresses. If only all medicine could be so lovely!

Samovarian Poetry: Delicate jasmine flowers melt seamlessly into the savoriness of this bai hao.

Food Pairing: Pair this fragrant jasmine bouquet infusion with a sweet flour crepe with orange marmalade and almonds. Or cookies with sandy textures that aren’t too sweet. At the tea lounge we like to drink the Jasmine Silver Needle while snacking on our cherry oat scone. Like with other white teas, you’ll want to remember not to overwhelm the palate with flavors that will overshadow the delicate taste of the golden infusion.

5 Tasting Notes

takgoti
90

Really, you could just read the description to this tea, because that is what it tastes like. It is light, it has the sweet and savory taste of hay, and the perfumed taste of jasmine is woven throughout.

The silver needle and the jasmine are both easy to find; one doesn’t drown out the other, which is surprising. In most jasmine teas that I’ve had, the jasmine has been very pronounced. Pronounced enough that, while it might not be belting a power ballad in your ear, it’s loud enough that you can’t ignore the fact that it’s there. While I appreciate that, it also means that if there’s anything else going on in the tea it can get drowned out a lot of the time. That isn’t a problem with this one, and I am completely enamored with now this ended up balancing out.

Some teas intertwine like vines on a trellis. Some swirl together like a chocolate and vanilla soft serve twisty cone. Others blend like fruit juices. This is like being outdoors during a summer afternoon, drunk on sunshine, with the scent of just baled hay and jasmine blossoms wafting to you on a light breeze.

I’ll be buying more when I’m done with this tin.

Auggy
93

How have I not had this one before? I would have paid more attention to it if I had know I hadn’t logged it before. Oops!

Smells of dark, exotic jasmine. Not overpoweringly but just strong enough. Really pretty. Mouthwatering. Mmm. The flavor is a lot like the smell. Very dark and exotic. Like a dark purple flower. If you ate it. Okay, maybe not, but if a dark purple rainforest-y flower had a non-flower taste, it’d taste like this. With a light sweetness of jasmine laid on top of it. I’m guessing that dark, lovely flavor is from the Silver Needle which is pretty nifty since I’ve yet to find a plain Silver Needle that doesn’t make me think of soybean water. So this makes me hopeful that I can find a SN that is yummy, not like boiled veggie water. Because this is lovely. My cup went away very quickly.
5.9g/12oz

bkyleb
93
bkyleb 3 tasting notes

Mmmm…this tea is delicious. It has just the right amount of jasmine, especially noticeable in the scent and the aftertaste, without being overpowering. The silver needleness is still there and is quite nice. The tea brews darker than I expected and is very smooth and relaxing, but still nice to look forward to first think in the morning. Thanks Samovar…I’ll enjoy this tin and order from you again in the future.

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Gillyflower
86
Gillyflower 2 tasting notes

The jasmine smell was almost overpowering when this first came, but has calmed down since then (but not disappeared, which I was afraid of because it’s SUCH a gorgeous smell!). I totally agree that the jasmine doesn’t drown out the tea; it’s very balanced, though certainly if you don’t like jasmine this isn’t the tea for you. I’ve enjoyed this several times; a second infusion is tasty but has less flavor/more wateriness. I’m wondering if this would be good iced…

OMG so good iced! I let it steep in the fridge for a long time (~20 hours) but the result is just the right amount of tea flavor for me, plus a pronounced floweriness, with no bitterness or darkness. The tea is a lovely light yellow. The jasmine has crossed over almost into orange-flower territory, it’s so sweet. This would be sooo good with dessert, or with a middle eastern or Thai dinner. I think I’m going to be making this a lot!

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