Nature’s Tea Leaf sent this free for review. It is hard to call it a sample – their portions are so generous!
GMathis is right. Touch these leaves and you will wish you had a pillow made of them. Soft, fluffy, fuzzy, downy. Also, not really easy to scoop in a teaspoon so I just reached in and grabbed a couple of pinches and put them in my eight ounce gong fu pot.
I knew this was likely too much leaf for such a small pot, but not by much, so I cut my steep time a bit. Quite a bit. I ended up with a soft and cozy cup.
There was a really sharp tang to the smell of the wet leaves, but it is no where present in the taste of the liquor.
Last time I drank this I got all oat and soft grain flavors. This time I can smell and taste a tiny, demure peek of fruitiness with the grain. I have had three steeps and plan to keep going with this one because steep three has the most fruity taste so far. I began with a one minute steep and have been increasing it about thirty seconds since. This is contrary to recommended steeping but as I said, I knew I put in more leaf than necessary and I am getting great results from it.
Two years ago, white tea was just hot water to me. I am thankful for the companies that let us try new things and expand our horizons and help us learn to appreciate all that is in tea.
Thank you, Nature’s Tea Leaf!
I’m going to try this one in the evening, but from TeaVivre!
Natures Tea Leaf and TeaVivre both have excellent versions of this tea. I am so happy I apparently like subtle flavors. Silver Needle is just such an amazing tea.