Silver Needle White Tea (Bai Hao Yin Zhen)

Tea type
White Tea
Ingredients
White Tea Leaves
Flavors
Aloe, Berry, Citrusy, Clay, Creamy, Dandelion, Floral, Hay, Honeydew, Melon, Smooth, Watermelon, Butter, Cantaloupe, Cream, Drying, Dust, Herbs, Jasmine, Lemon, Lychee, Mineral, Musty, Nectar, Oats, Pastries, Sage, Sake, Tart, Cucumber, Bread, Rice, Sweet, Soybean, Vegetable Broth, Honey, Straw, Honeysuckle, Autumn Leaf Pile, Sugarcane, Flowers, Lettuce, Earth
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Low
Certification
Fair Trade
Edit tea info Last updated by TeaVivre
Average preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 8 oz / 231 ml

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36 Tasting Notes View all

  • “It’s the last day of July already? Unbelievable! A few months ago I started using the last day of the month to update my “Tea Collection” database, re-arrange my cupboards as needed, & kind of...” Read full tasting note
  • “Thanks to Heather for passing down a sample of this. I’ve never been a huge fan of white tea, but seeing that I haven’t had a straight up white tea in years, it wouldn’t hurt to revisit...” Read full tasting note
  • “Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #10 I snatched this one out of the box to sample later and I am soooooo glad I did. This was such a delicate white tea I love! The dry leaf was so beautiful. The...” Read full tasting note
    92
  • “This sample arrived today from Teavivre, and I didn’t wait long before trying it out. The dry leaves were lovely and intact, and it was fascinating to see how much character each little leaf...” Read full tasting note

From Teavivre

Origin: Fuding City, Fujian Province, China

Ingredients: Pure tea buds

Taste: sweet and slippery taste; has slight soymilk flavor; sweet aftertaste presents quickly

Brew: bew at 176 ºF (80 ºC) for 1 to 2 minutes (exact time depends on your taste – a longer time will give the tea a stronger taste and color)

Health Benefits: Silver Needle White Tea gives you the greatest health benefits of all White Tea’s. Composed of only unopened, fresh leaf buds, none of the beneficial antioxidants and minerals in this tea has yet had a chance to be used by the plant to convert to chlorophyll or other parts of an opened leaf’s structure

About Teavivre View company

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36 Tasting Notes

74
109 tasting notes

First tasting of today is silver needle from teavivre. I got this as part of their white tea sample pack and decided to start with the basic silver needle before moving to the scented or high quality one. I started by examining the needles and they look excellent, very few broken ones and a nice silver color. Steeping this at 175 for about 45 seconds I got a very pale white yellow color liquor. My first tasting I was a little surprised, I was having trouble picking out the flavors. This is my first experience with unflavored silver needle, and was a bit taken aback by how subtle it is.

My second steeping produced a slightly less pale white yellow liquor and a slightly stronger aroma and taste. It took a few sips but I finally got the flavor, white bread and rice, with just a tiny hint of sweetness. It also has a very pleasant mouth feel and now I understand why this type of tea is so often blended or scented, its incredibly pleasant, but the flavors and aroma’s are very very subtle.

I do recomend this tea, and since I have a second package for another steeping next week, and I want to see how it tastes on the second attempt, because I have the feeling there is more flavors here that Im missing.

Flavors: Bread, Rice, Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 45 sec 5 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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87
261 tasting notes

Next time: Try skipping the rinse and brew at 170 – 173˚F instead since their Nonpareil Silver Needle did so well at a lower temperature.

I am loving pretty much every tea from Teavivre so far. This Silver Needle is so fragrant in a similar way to the White Peony, but less sweet (I specifically wanted a less sweet tea this afternoon). Really happy I could brew this in my new glass gaiwan (which only takes well to lower temperatures like this 176˚F). Did a 2-second rinse.

1st infusion (45s):
The leaves are bursting with perfume reminiscent of a field or garden in summer––floral and dry grass. The liquor tastes floral, but with a refreshing twist like cucumber, and also a hint of soy milk with vegetable broth.

2nd infusion (60s):
Still that nice summer field aroma, but more subdued than before. Starting to taste a bit of that sweet “melon” other reviewers have mentioned, but also starting to get slightly dry and astringent. Still yummy though.

3rd infusion (90s):
Less fragrance now, but the tea is still full-bodied with nice round mouthfeel. Less astringent because I poured the liquor out of the gaiwan promptly (I might have oversteeped on the 2nd infusion).

4th infusion (105s):
I’m impressed that the leaves are still going, this infusion has mostly the dry floral and pine flavour. I could probably get one more steep out of this, but I’m not going to push the leaves any more because I want to move on to a different tea.

Flavors: Cucumber, Floral, Hay, Soybean, Vegetable Broth

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 45 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 147 ML

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80
63 tasting notes

Expectations. Quite high, this is a famous tea after all.

Steeping. 65ml gaiwan and 75-80C water. I tried to steep this tea also with a champagne glass, but the leaves floated on the surface.

Appearance. The leaves were smaller than I thought, about the size of my finger tip (or 0,5cm to be precise.) They were all covered in white fur.

Aroma. Sweet and straw-ish. There was quite a lot of dust (probably loose fur) so I had to sneeze a couple times while appreciating the aroma. Spent leaves have greenish-gray hue. The tea is pale yellow in color.

Tasting. Really light and sweet. I thought this would have more tartness, but the flavor is so delicate. It has only light note of straw and hay, maybe cucumber or melon too. Longer infusions have that nice little kick in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is pleasantly astringent.

Comments. The Silver Needle is really good tea, but to me it doesn’t give that ‘wow!’-feeling. Still, I will see this one again when it’s freshly picked, my sample is 9 months old after all so I’m intrigued to try this one again.

PS. Happy New Year 2016 everyone!

Flavors: Cantaloupe, Cucumber, Hay, Honey, Honeydew, Melon, Straw, Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 g 2 OZ / 65 ML

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85
526 tasting notes

This is my last tea for the night. I haven’t had white tea in awhile, and I remembered that I had this. The dry leaf looks a little darker. This tea resembles more of a tarnished silver rather than a silver. However, I don’t judge tea solely on appearance. I decided to brew these little needles in my glassware. I used cool (175F) water to brew it up. The liquor was a pale glistening white gold. The taste was incredibly sweet. This brew begins with a dry hay and melon flavor and then smooths out to sweet and honeysuckle. This helped calm me down before bed. it was nice to revisit white tea again.

Flavors: Hay, Honeysuckle, Melon, Nectar, Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 15 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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100
32 tasting notes

This Silver Needle has made me want to start trying more white teas. I haven’t tried a lot, but the ones I’ve had, I didn’t really care for. They seemed too light…not enough flavor. This one, I’m really liking though. I’m getting a lot of hay in scent and taste. It’s creamy and a little sweet. Something else, I think might be soy milk….it’s been a while since I’ve had any, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it reminds me of.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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82
4169 tasting notes

I wanted to try this white tea with the same parameters as I tried the Nonpareil a while ago. Though it might be way too far back for me to compare these two. The leaves are huge and there are a TON in a 5 gram sample. They have such a strong scent for a dry leaf – very surprising for a white tea. I can’t really tell a noticeable difference in flavor from this one and the Nonpareil (though that was months ago that I tried it.) The first cup is mostly mellow dried grass. Maybe I say “mellow” because it also reminds me of lemony marshmallows, if that exists. Maybe cotton flavored, in the best possible way. These are flavor notes I typically find in a white tea! These flavors intensify with the second steep! A nice white tea but I adore the Jasmine white.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a mug (about half of a 5 grams pouch) // 40 minutes after boiling // rinse // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Harvest: 2015
http://www.teavivre.com/anniversary-celebration/

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83
306 tasting notes

I haven’t tried enough white teas. They are arguably my favorite type. Okay, I don’t really have a favorite type… but one of my two favorite teas (tied for the best I’ve had) is a white tea. I love the subtle nature of them. I can drink them often and not get tired of them or feel overwhelmed.

This silver needle by TeaVivre is just about what I’d expect from a Fujian silver needle. My entry point to white teas was through the award-winning white teas of Shang Tea, so I feel a little spoiled in that regard and tend to compare white teas to those ones.

In comparison to the silver needles I’ve had before, this one seems a bit more sugary sweet, but lacks the subtle peach notes I’m used to. The gentle color of the brewed liquor is like cream. The aroma has subtle hints of fallen autumn leaves. The downy buds have a nice coat of silvery white fur.

On the second infusion, my little white porcelain pinming cup looks like a yellow early evening moon is in it. There are subtle notes of spices in the aroma and the tea itself now has a bit of a cucumber taste. There’s more of that mouth-filling sugary flavor, and there’s a bit of a dusty taste in the background, subtle enough not to be unwelcome.

As with most silver needles I’ve tried, the flavor is rather consistent from one Gongfu infusion to the next. The flavor remains delicate and sweet.

This is certainly a good silver needle. It’s not the best one I’ve had, but it’s definitely good. It has a lot of sweetness. I’d say that’s the main distinguishing feature between this silver needle and others I’ve had like it.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Cucumber, Dust, Sugarcane

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 45 sec 3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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83
1118 tasting notes

This sample came to me from Flyawaybirdie, and I’ve held on to it until I had a day where I could sit down and appreciate it. Today is rainy, cold, and I’m taking it slow and easy. It’s a perfect muti-steep tea sipping day!

The dry leaves are fluffy, soft, and tiny. Little baby tea leaves are so cute! Once steeped there is a pale liquid with a soft melon-like scent. I wasn’t expecting melon, but I like it. The taste is more oat cake than melon although there is a honeydew note as the tea cools. Otherwise, I get oat cake and a bit of a grassy note. The tea is soft, clean, and very pleasant.

The second steep is much like the first, but the melon note is more pronounced. I’m really liking this a lot. It’s like a moment of summer in the middle of winter, and a tasty moment, too! There is still a good amount of oat flavor, but the grassy note is not present. The steep is also slightly creamier than the first steep.

I’ll keep steeping this throughout the day. It’ll be fun to see where this tea takes me.

Thank you, Flyawaybirdie for sharing this with me!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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89
694 tasting notes

Thanks to Angel at Teavivre for this sample!

I had a few really nice white teas when I first started drinking tea. I then ordered 2oz of silver needle from a tea shop and it was awful. It turned me off to straight white tea until this sample arrived at my doorstep!

This tea has renewed my faith in white tea!!!! Oh man this stuff is good. This is one of those tea experiences that makes you want to go out and buy tons of it so you never run out. This is very sweet with hints of floral. There is almost a fruityness to this as well. It is so calming and relaxing. I don’t want this session to end. I will note that I am experimenting with this tea and with brewing white tea gonfu style. I am glad there is enough to prefect the brewing method. Thank you for allowing me to try this wonderful tea!

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72
709 tasting notes

First thoughts: Wow, those are big! The leaves are uniformly whole, about 1.5 inches long.

I got some of this in my recent package of samples from Teavivre and now that Steepster seems less broken, I’m finally reviewing it. I don’t often drink white tea but when I do I tend to enjoy it. I steeped this for about two minutes in 75 degree water per the instructions on the sample. I used the whole packet to make a pot for the beau and I since he is a big fan of white teas.

At two minutes western style, this is light tea. Very light. Maybe too light. I poured the tea back into the pot for another minute steeping – and made a mess. Whoops. Then I forgot it, and it went two more minutes. So, a four minute steep it is. The water was only 75 when poured though, so I’m not worried about over-steeping.

Now, we have a lot more flavour. It is still a light-tea but full-bodied and sweet with some notes of hay and melon or cucumber. No bitterness, astringency or dryness. Light but yummy. Sort of unassuming. Another tea that I like when I drink but don’t always think to go for. The beau proclaims it “really good.” He gets a bit of jasmine (which is likely floral in general). He had a sip of scotch before trying it though, so his impressions are now confused.

I don’t think we will have any problem enjoying these samples and I am interested to compare it to the Organic Silver Needle we also received. I think I will try a second steep of this later at higher temps as well to see what we get.

It’s been a little while since I’ve had the white peony, but so far I would say I liked that a little better. It had a little more oomph for me and stood out a bit more. I think it also had different brewing parameters though which can really change the outcome.

Flavors: Cucumber, Melon, Sweet

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 4 min, 0 sec 7 g 20 OZ / 591 ML

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