Silver Needle
Silver Needle
Silver Needle
Fujian · China

Silver Needle

Baihao Yinzhen

Fresh, delicate and sweet white bud tea.

Regular price $27.00
Sale price $27.00 Regular price
Unit price

  • Estimated deliveryJul 02 - Jul 06

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About

The most prized and highest grade of white tea, produced since the 18th century Qing dynasty.

Silver Needle, or Bai Hao Yin Zhen, is a white tea made entirely from the unopened tea leaf buds. It is grown in Fujian Province in southern China between 800 and 1200 metres and plucked during the first flush in early Spring (late March to early April), while the buds are still sheathed in fine white down.

Unlike green tea, the ideal time and weather for plucking white tea is a sunny morning when the sun is high enough to have dried any remaining moisture on the buds. Plucks are laid in shallow baskets to wilt under the sun for an extended period, and the best quality produced today is still made this way.

White tea is the least processed of the major types: the buds are withered and dried, with no rolling and no pan-firing, and very light oxidation. This minimal handling is what gives white tea its unique, clean and softly sweet flavour rather than the vegetal notes of green tea or caramel notes of a roasted oolong.

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Silver Needle

Silver Needle

Tasting

Leaf

Slender silver-white buds, slightly curved and covered in fine white down. Tones run from pale straw to soft green, with the occasional darker stem fragment.

Aroma

Honeysuckle-floral, with a warm, sugary sweetness.

Liquor

Pale ivory, gently tinted towards a golden hue. Soft and lightly sweet, the floral note carrying into the cup.

Profile
Tea Type White
Processing Minimal
Caffeine Low
Harvest Early Spring
Perfect For Anytime
Milk Option Milk is not suitable for this tea.
Preparation

How to brew Silver Needle

Silver Needle is more forgiving to brew than a green tea, as long as the water isn't too hot. Boiling water will scorch the buds and turn them bitter; held around 80-85°C and the sweetness stays intact. The buds are dense, so give them time. Some steep Silver Needle for up to 8 minutes at a lower temperature to carefully coax out the honeysuckle flavour.

Temperature 85°C / 185°F
Measure 3g per 250ml
Steep Time 3-5 mins
Infusions 1-2
Brewer's Note

It is possible to re-steep Silver Needle after a first initial steep, even when brewing western style. Experiment with temperature and timing to find your perfect flavour.

Temperature 80°C / 176°F
Measure 5g per 100ml
Steep Time 20-30s, then +10s
Infusions 5-7
Brewer's Note

A great gongfu tea as its sweet flavours evolve and change with each brew. You can expect several decent brews, each deepening in texture as the buds open up.

Origin

Fujian

Elevation ▲ 300-1500m
Country China

Fujian sits on China's subtropical southeast coast, where a warm, humid climate and a mountainous, high-rainfall interior suit the tea plant well. Steep, mineral-rich hillsides are why the province grows such a range of styles and tea processing was mastered here long ago.

Fujian is home of white tea, grown mainly in the northern counties of Fuding and Zhenghe, where Silver Needle is made from unopened buds. As well as being home to two distinct schools of oolong: the heavily roasted rock oolongs (yancha) of the Wuyi Mountains in the north, and the greener, more floral Tie Guan Yin of Anxi in the south.

Fujian is also widely regarded as the birthplace of black tea – Lapsang Souchong, first made in the Wuyi area in the 1600s, was the original, and the model for the black teas later grown across India and Sri Lanka.