Silver Needle White Tea

Silver Needle White tea is one of the rarest types of tea in the world. This rarity has helped feed its renown and exclusivity. Historically, the white downy tea buds used to make Silver Needle White Tea were reserved for the exclusive use of the Chinese Imperial family for centuries. Since then this delightful tea has become available to the general population, with tea drinkers all over the world now indulging their taste buds with this imperialistic imbued type of tea.

Along with the sense of prestige and elegance, you will feel with every sip, it has a delicately creamy taste with tones of honey and melon. Partnering with its wonderful taste, it also has antioxidants qualities for soothing the body as well as the mind.

You may try our Jasmine Silver needle

The leaves are harvested by hand at dawn for only two days of the year before they are left in the sun to dry. It’s these ritualistic elements of harvesting the leaves that add to Silver Needle White tea’s places as one of the most revered teas in China.

The leaves used to make Silver Needle White Tea are held in high regard for their beauty as well as for the delicious cup of tea that can be brewed from them. The leaves feature soft young silver needle tips, or immature leaf buds, which reflect the sweet, silky sense of luxury you will feel whenever you find them brewing in your cup or tea pot.

THE WATER TEMPERATURE

• The golden rule about water temperature is never use boiling water on the tea, whatever kind of tea you are making.
• Green Teas require water at 70°C and black teas require water at 85-90°C.
• These days you can get kettles which enable you to choose your water temperature.

THE AMOUNT OF TEA

• Custom dictates that 4 grams are sufficient for one cup. But the amount is partly a matter of preference.
• In the case of Assam tea, which is naturally very robust, you might want to reduce the strength and brew 3 grams instead of 4.

THE BREWING TIME

• This is a very important step in the art of tea-making. In fact, the brewing time varies depending on the type of tea. An over-brewed black tea will develop a bitter taste whilst an under-brewed white tea will be flat and insipid.
• Black teas are normally brewed for 2-3 minutes, green teas for 3 – 4 minutes. It is a good idea to check the brewing time before making the tea, because some teas need to be infused for very specific times: for example, Jade Pearl is left to infuse for 7 – 20 minutes, whilst Oolong tea will need 5 – 7 minutes for its bouquet to develop fully.
• Brewing is normally done with a lid on, so that the tea retains all its aromas.