India Bihar Doke Silver Needle White Tea

Going back in the time machine. Lately, even 1 week feels like an eternity though not in a bad way. I’ve had so much going on between preparing for my trip and getting food poisoning this week that my brain has been Swiss-cheesed.

Subtle, delicate and fluid aromas and flavors. Something like white grape, lychee and mango, hay and cucumber. Viscous and sweet spring water, salty; hint of cream in aftertaste.

When prepared in a steeper basket, the most lovely aroma of cocoa butter wafts from the cup.

Excellent silver needle! Easy to drink and appreciate. Probably best for fans of subtlety.

Thank you again, beerandbeancurd.

I take back every mean thing I’ve said about linalool oxide. It’s delicious here, because it has fantastic supporting players. Notes coming out of the warmed pot were toasty with some lemon zest. Potatoes and umami in the first steep. The linalool/ecualyptus flavor is present but is not the star.

I didn’t take notes, so this feels like a paltry offering to these leaves. They are the fluffiest of fluffies, and only 5g filled my 5oz ceramic pot. That first steep was an unexpected delight; I got typing to Daylon and oversteeped the second, cursing myself as I poured… annnnd it was amazing. No bitterness, big flavors. Hay, mushroom, sweetness like a Maillard reaction… caramelized starch? It makes me want to brew this western and see what bouquet materializes, though these fat flavors may take a LOT of leaf to accomplish… and losing a gong fu session also seems a little sad.

It tasted cool, but I just had to lose my sweatshirt and feel a little shvitzy.

The first white (aside from a long-ago dither with a coconut-something from Art of Tea) that I will almost definitely repurchase. I really like this.

This was one of my sipdowns from the early months of 2020. I want to say I composed the notes for this review in either late March or early April. I know that I was drinking this tea either immediately before or immediately after Covidmania reached these parts. At the time, I wasn’t expecting much. My previous encounters with Doke teas had left me unimpressed. This tea, however, struck me as being great. I enjoyed it much more than the previous two reviewers.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of hay, straw, sugarcane, marshmallow, cedar, and eucalyptus. I also picked up a hint of smokiness in the background. After the rinse, aromas of cucumber, cannabis, butter, and roasted peanut emerged. In addition to the subtle smokiness in the background, I picked up another subtle scent that reminded me of sorghum molasses. The first infusion added mineral, cooked lettuce, pea, grass, and lemon zest aromas. In the mouth, the tea liquor initially offered notes of cream, butter, hay, smoke, straw, corn husk, cucumber, cooked lettuce, and grass before hints of cannabis, sorghum molasses, horehound, roasted peanut, and fresh peas started to emerge. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of malt, peppermint, plum, green apple, coriander, white grape, horehound, zucchini, corn husk, and orange zest. None of the previously mentioned flavors immediately faded or intensified, but new impressions of minerals, sugarcane, marshmallow, lemon zest, zucchini, coriander, orange zest, malt, white grape, sour plum, sour apricot, green apple, pear, and lychee appeared. Hints of cedar, peppermint oil, eucalyptus, and white pepper could be found as well. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, coriander, grass, cooked lettuce, green apple, cucumber, pear, lemon zest, sugarcane, white grape, cream, butter, zucchini, and straw that were chased by pleasant, lingering hints of horehound, sorghum molasses, malt, roasted peanut, orange zest, sour plum, hay, and peppermint oil.

Compared to the other Doke teas that I previously tried, this one was much more rewarding and likable. I appreciated that it had a very unique character; it was not all that comparable to the other Silver Needles that I tried prior to trying it. It did not even really have all that much in common with other Indian white teas. I also appreciated its relative lack of bitterness and astringency, characteristics that I had found to be distracting and unpleasant in other Doke teas. While the two previous reviewers seemed to enjoy this tea to a certain extent, I loved it. It was a very worthy offering.

I had a hard time getting the right balance at first with this one. It is more on the vegetal side for a white tea, and is super, super light. The first time tasted like rose stem water with fresh green leaves.

Yes, I was a weird seven year old that actually tried the pot water soaking rose stems.

Anyway.

Second time, I used Gong Fu precision using 3 grams, 6 oz, and about three minutes. It was exceptionally smooth, and generally sweet water. The grapey fruitiness is there, but it is very subtle. Like the other review, this is more of a daily drinker white. It took me a little bit of time to like this one because I was bored and unimpressed with the vegetal qualities, but after brewing it more carefully, I enjoy and appreciate it as an approachable and elegant white tea.

I find that the Doke Silver Needles very delicious. You can easily get 2-3 good steeps out of it. It’s a very smooth taste with no hint of bitterness. It has a slightly vegetable taste with a bit of grape aftertaste. It’s very reasonably priced and could easily be an everyday drinker.