Have you tried our Silver Needle?
Origin: Fuding, Fujian China
Tasting Notes: Floral - hints of vanilla, fruity - notes of stone-fruit
Review by Han L: "Nice white tea. Sweet and delicate, with no astringent taste"
Silver Needle is one of the most “premium” and “highest grade” tea from China because it’s consists of only the bud, the youngest part, of the tea bush, not your usual leaves and bud. Also, because it’s only the bud of the tea bush, it can only be harvested by hand. Just imagine, how many tea buds there are in the tea tin you purchased and how many hours it had taken to harvest them.
White teas can originate from different regions - Yunnan / Fujian and because of different growing regions, the flavour may vary. Our Silver Needle from Fuding, Fujian (the birthplace of White tea!) is considered to be the more classic version - furry (also known as downy, plump buds with classic tasting notes - sweet, delicate, floral and fruity notes.
Many might think that white tea has the least caffeine content. But caffeine level in tea isn’t as straight forward and as such, there has been much research done on this topic. More recent studies have actually concluded that white tea might actually contain the most caffeine because it uses the youngest part of the tea bush - bud (note: more mature leaves, lower caffeine level). Apart from just the age/maturity of the part used, processing affects caffeine level too. Given that white teas or Silver Needle, in this case, has the least processing involved, it retains a substantial amount of its caffeine level. We could go on and on about what affects caffeine level in tea, but the above points, do point to White Tea having quite a reasonable amount of caffeine. So take note!
You can enjoy this delicate but amazing tea by brewing them in a few different ways - Hot Brew and Cold Brew. Hot Brew, you could brew it via Chinese Gong Fu style or the Western method. For Chinese Gong Fu style, use water of about 90-95°C and infuse for 30 seconds - 1 minute. You will be able to do multiple steep with the tea leaves. Every steep could bring out different tasting notes. For Western method, using water of about 85°C and infuse for 3 minutes. Cold Brew, give the tea leaves a quick flush with hot water and then steep the tea leaves in room temperature water in a bottle and chuck it into the fridge overnight! The slow brewing will allow cool water and time to coax subtle and gentle flavours from the tea leaves.
Pure teas are packed with full flavours and we love them a whole lot! We hope this short informative post on Silver Needle might encourage you to try them yourselves. Check it out here - Silver Needle.