Jing Gu White Pekoe Silver Needles White Tea - Autumn 2014

Yesterday’s tea.

I took this one to work and brewed in my double glass walled travel mug. I thought I took a pu’erh and was surprised to find a white tea. And one I hadn’t reviewed yet either. I just used the hot water from the hot water dispenser (water cooler) as I think that one is around the 175. I know it’s definitely less than 185. It was the best I could do at work.

I love how these leaves looked. So big , furry & white. It brews up to a pretty bold white tea. The liquid was an amber colour.

What struck me first about this tea is I got a caramel note. It seemed to taste like caramel to me but was between a caramel/malt flavour. This is the element I believe CameronB picked up that was similar to a black tea. On the YS website , they note that as this tea ages it becomes more like a black.

It’s interesting how we all get different tastes and then our brains interpret it in different ways too. What can I say? Caramel just seemed to stick in my head .

I didn’t get any fruity notes but I noticed this tea was VERY sweet; and of course I picked up the typical hay notes I get from most whites. The second brew on this was a bit too weak for me but the colour was still quite dark. I would like to try brewing this one gongfu next time.

Overall, an exceptional white tea!

This lovely sample came from Ubacat. I wasn’t planning on trying this one tonight, but miss Roswell Strange wanted me to try it so that we could compare our experiences. I generally enjoy silver needle teas, and Yunnan Sourcing’s are so cheap compared to most white teas in general. Plus, I’ve never had a tea from them that I didn’t enjoy, so it’s a win-win. The needle are a little over an inch long, and covered in pale silver, almost white fuzz. Dry scent is soft, sweet hay and oats with a bit of apricot.

I can still smell that touch of apricot in the aroma, but now it’s joined by a slighty savory smoky scent. And when I say ‘smoky’, I mean like smoked meat or fish, not like Lapsang. Wow, this is definitely a unique white tea. It has a mild ‘smoked meats’ type of flavor that I sometimes find in Chinese black teas. I can definitely see the similarity to a pure bud Yunnan black tea. Other than that, I can also taste a bit of apricot, though I would call it more of a dried apricot flavor. There’s also the sweet hay and oat notes that I find to be present in most white teas. In the middle and especially at the end of the sip, a strong and clear sweetness emerges, like honeysuckle nectar or spring water. Also, a touch of mineral. The aftertaste is long and sweet, and possibly my favorite part of this tea. Yum!