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“140/365 From the Regional Group Buy. These are some of the thinnest and pointiest silver tips I’ve come across – I can definitely see why they’re known as needles now! They actually remind me of...” Read full tasting note
“Gong Fu Sipdown (626)! This was my third session of the day – honestly I think I overleafed this one too. I was using the same 50ml Gaiwan that I used for me last session (rinsed in between) but I...” Read full tasting note
“From LP’s 2016 Group Buy: http://www.liquidproustteas.com/listing/470490943/regional-2016-tea-group-buy Backlog 20 August 2016 The tea reminds me of wet hay, with earthy undertones; slight malt....” Read full tasting note
“Taste of dry hair inside a pile of wet hay and some shaved corn straw.” Read full tasting note
A classic, elegant silver needle, only one tender leaf and a downy bud are meticulously picked from each tender tea bush. This fresh tea is naturally withered, hand-separated and dried to halt the oxidation process. The result is a beautiful, rare tea, with long needles and distinctive silver tips. The pale liquor reveals a delicate aroma, the flavor of sweet grass with a hint of citrus, and finishes with satisfying almond notes. The tea’s mouthfeel is smooth and silky, devoid of astringency. An exquisite Connoisseur Collection tea.
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140/365
From the Regional Group Buy. These are some of the thinnest and pointiest silver tips I’ve come across – I can definitely see why they’re known as needles now! They actually remind me of pine needles in shape and size, although obviously these are white and downy. Christmas tree needles covered in snow?! Irrelevance, anyway.
I struggle to get much flavour from white teas, so I followed the instructions to the letter this time. I used 2 tsp of leaf (or there abouts – it was hard to measure using a spoon…) and gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to 185 degrees.
This one is mostly still sweet water, with a mild hay-like flavour and a touch of dustiness towards the end of the sip. In other words, it’s very similar to 99% of other plain white teas I’ve tried – more delicate than some, perhaps, but broadly the same in flavour terms. I imagine this is a lot more expensive than some whites, and white tea is expensive to begin with. Sure, it’s better than the bagged clipper stuff I started out with (you know, the one that I used to brew like black tea and put milk in. It was an easy mistake to make, though, given that it brewed up to a pretty solid amber colour all by itself.) This tea is in another league entirely, but I can’t really say what, if anything, distinguishes it from most other silver needles offered by other vendors, and that’s a sticking point for me. I understand flavoured white better, I think, because sometimes an airy base is just the thing. Plain? Perhaps I’m just not subtle enough to really appreciate it…
Gong Fu Sipdown (626)!
This was my third session of the day – honestly I think I overleafed this one too. I was using the same 50ml Gaiwan that I used for me last session (rinsed in between) but I had a weird amount of leaf left. If I had split it up into two sessions it would have been far too weak/underleafed, but for one session is was strong. At least as far as white teas go.
About a dozen steeps in total; but the last few were pushed for a really long time to coax flavour out. Like, closer to Western brewing in terms of timing. I should have cut this off earlier, but I had been really enjoying it and didn’t want to let it go yet. Session started off a little choppy and astringent (from the overleafing) but quickly settled into sweet and creamy with strong timothy hay notes and a bit of a VERY MILD herby rosemary quality underneath the initial sweet cream/malt top notes. Maybe the best version of this tea that I’ve had since acquiring it; which is the best way to finish off a tea anyway!
From LP’s 2016 Group Buy: http://www.liquidproustteas.com/listing/470490943/regional-2016-tea-group-buy
Backlog 20 August 2016
The tea reminds me of wet hay, with earthy undertones; slight malt. Very floral, too, in both flavor (aftertaste) and smell. Dandelions, maybe?
I got dandelion and a little bit of corn in it myself. I also found it to be the weirdest combo of light and thick in the body, but in a way that only white teas can be.
Yeah, the tea was definitely a light color, but tasted much thicker/darker than it was. I have another session’s worth, so I might see if I can get the corn note.
I got this sample from Good Tea Leaf. I hadn’t heard of them before, but apparently they offer samples of tea from various tea vendors for a discounted price once a month. This one came from Nepali Tea Traders. Now, I typically try not to drink tea after about 9 but I just got home from work and it was such a snowy night here in KC that I couldn’t pass up a little tea time. I chose the white tea for it’s relative lightness, and lightness is exactly what I am getting.
I put 7g in my gaiwan and gave it a quick rinse. The little buds and leaves smell very mildly of dried grass with a touch of sweetness. A 10 second steep and I can barely make out any flavor profile. 15 seconds gives me a touch of the same sweet grass as before. I went ahead and skipped to 30s, 45s, a minute… still just sweet grass, maybe a touch of something citrus. When I reheated my water and gave it a longer steep at a highter temperature a decent amount of astringency came out. I will use the rest of the sample to brew this Western style.
Overall I wouldn’t buy this tea again, there are just too many good white teas out there. I also wonder when this tea was picked. A quick scan of the original website didn’t give a production date, and if this is a 2014 or before much of the original complexity could very well be gone. That said, I WOULD order samples form Good Leaf Tea again. Quick shipping and an overall good experience.
Flavors: Grass, Hay, Honey
