Really not sure how I feel about silver needle so far. This is the second one I’ve tried and it was alright. First time, I tried doing normal gongfu, but the leaves just weren’t opening up at all, and my best brews were among the last, when I got up to steep times of a minute or more. My second session, I did a sort of reverse gongfu, with steeps of 1m, 45s, 30s, 20s, 20s, 30s, 45s, etc. It did work a lot better, as I got some decent flavor in the early and later steeps.
Very light tasting tea, with floral and straw notes. Also picked up on some grassy taste. Late in the first session and midway through the second, I got a kind of sweetness I’ve only tasted in silver needle that I can best describe as “fluffy.” Like marshmallows maybe, but not so overwhelmingly sugary. Also got a bit of a milky and creamy mouth feel during those steeps. I have one or two more silver needle samples, so if anybody has any brewing advice for them, I would welcome it.
Flavors: Creamy, Floral, Grass, Straw, Sweet
