Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
Another beautiful Silver Needle with a fruitier taste and delicate spicy finish. The ‘Cristal’ of the tea world; the most expensive type of tea from Darjeeling, known as the ‘Champagne’ region of the tea world.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of the dry leaf reminds me of the smell that fills the air in the early spring on Saturday afternoons – when everyone is mowing their lawns. The smell of freshly cut grass fills the air and that’s what I smell with these tea leaves. Fresh air and grass that has just been cut. There’s a slight herbaceous smell to it too, in fact, the first time that I smelled the dry leaf, the first thought that popped into my head was ‘mint’ so I took another sniff to see if I was imagining things, and I didn’t smell mint that time but there is a definite “herb-y” smell to these leaves.
To brew these leaves, I scooped out some of the leaves (a full scoop using my bamboo scoop) and put them into the chamber of my gaiwan. I heated freshly filtered water to 165°F and then I did a 15 second rinse, discarded the liquid from the rinse and proceeded to steep the first infusion for 90 seconds, adding 30 seconds onto each subsequent infusion. (I usually brew white teas a little longer than other tea types.) 
The tea is lightly fragrant and is a medium golden amber color. A little darker than the color in the picture to the right. Perhaps to obtain this color they either steeped it less time or used less leaf.
Nevertheless, the flavor is delightful so I’m not worried at all about the color of the cup! It is sweet and tastes of fruit! I taste notes of grape with subtle hints of apple and apricot at the start of the sip. As the sip progresses, I pick up on some warm spice notes, a gentle yet peppery spice, like white pepper. This peppery tone lingers into the aftertaste which is also peppery with an intriguing sweet contrast. One of the most interesting aftertastes I’ve experienced in a tea.
There is some astringency toward the finish – it is dry and I feel the insides of my cheeks puckering a bit from the dryness. It reminds me a bit of a dry wine.
I found my second cup (infusions 3 and 4) to be very much like the first. The sip began with notes of grape. Instead of tasting apple and apricot, though, I am picking up on melon notes now. The taste is sweet, crisp and vibrant. At mid-sip I start to pick up on the zesty tingle of pepper. The finish is dry. It’s a very refreshing and clean taste.
I started to notice the spice notes change a bit in the third cup (infusions 5 and 6). The peppery notes began to morph into a more nutmeg-like flavor with a warm, nutty, somewhat earthy taste. The melon notes were emerging more, while the notes of grape began to taper and become more unified with the melon flavor. This cup is definitely sweeter and smoother, it’s not quite as crisp tasting. It’s mellowed somewhat.
I was so happy to have the opportunity to try this tea. I have a soft spot for Darjeeling white tea, and this is one I’d recommend to anyone else who finds Darjeeling white teas to be as compelling as I do.
Silver Tip White Tea from P.M.David Silva & Sons
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: PMD (P.M.David Silva & Sons)
Tea Description:
Silver Tips has long been the preserve of Kings and connoisseurs. This exclusive white tea follows a truly unique production process. Before sunrise, specialist tea pluckers select the most tender buds of only the finest tea bushes. It is essential that the master tea maker uses all his expertise, patience and effort to transform the buds into Silver Tips – it takes 5 kilos of buds to produce 1 kilo of Silver Tips.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
These leaves are absolutely gorgeous! They’re pale green and the edges are silvery. The leaves are soft to the touch and I can feel the fluffy down-like particles on the leaves. The aroma is delicate and lightly vegetal, reminiscent of hay.
And the flavor is delightful. So sweet! Smooth, light and refreshing! Even when served hot, I can feel it cool me, which is greatly appreciated on this hot summer day. It is very soothing and calming to sip. This is the kind of tea I want to reach for on one of those days when things just aren’t going my way. This tea will turn everything around!
The sweetness is almost like raw cane sugar! There are notes of melon and the softest hint of sweet apple. A light vegetal taste – but oh so subtle! It is barely there and hard to pick up on unless I slurp the sip to aerate it.
It’s a very refreshing beverage. I feel it relax me as I drink it.
To brew this tea, I approached it the way I approach most white teas. I use a low temperature (170°F) and steep it for 4 minutes. This produces a very enjoyable flavor that is delicate and delicious. But don’t mistake the word “delicate” for lacking in flavor, because this certainly does not lack in flavor. There is a whole lot of flavor in this cup!
This is a superb Silver Tip (aka Silver Needle) tea, and I’m not at all surprised that it came from P.M.David Silva & Sons because so far, I’ve been blown away with the quality that I’ve tasted from this company. I highly recommend checking them out!
Doke Silver Needle from Lochan Tea Limited
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Lochan Tea Limited
Tea Description:
This second flush Doke Silver Needle White Tea shows how this family run garden is constantly innovating (Chinese Silver Needles are only harvested once per year). Like most Second Flush pickings, these leaves are loose and slightly darker yet here this simply concentrates the delicious white tea flavors – a truly extraordinary Silver Needle tea. Only the freshest tender young buds, covered in a delicate soft white down, are selected and brew to produce a clean and smooth liquor that’s simply bursting with fresh white tea flavor. Large, downy needles produce a sweet and creamy, full-bodied golden liquor with notes of peach blossom and dried apricot. This is a unique selection from a little-known origin.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a while since I’ve had a silver needle tea, and this one is unique because it’s not a Chinese Silver Needle, this one is from India. I find that Doke Silver Needle teas tend to have a stronger flavor than the very delicate flavor of a Chinese Silver Needle. I appreciate both for their unique qualities, but since I’m reviewing the Doke at the moment, I think I’ll just say that I really like the well defined flavor of this Silver Needle tea!
It has a very sweet, refreshing taste. It’s very soothing to sip. I taste notes of dew and melon and a peach-like flavor … but sweeter. I had trouble putting my finger on exactly how to describe that flavor until I read the above description and saw “dried apricot” and then I realized … yeah, that’s it! It has the almost-sugary sweetness of dried fruit, and it does indeed have a dried apricot-like flavor.
The texture is soft. The taste is very smooth from start to finish. No bitterness and very little astringency (as in I am having a hard time discerning any astringency here at all.) I keep going back to the word “sweet” but that is the word that keeps coming to mind with every sip. It’s deliciously sweet. My mouth waters from the sweetness.
It’s a very lovely cup of tea. I like that this isn’t exceptionally delicate in flavor, the flavors here stand out. It’s a very flavorful cuppa!
Makaibari Silver Green Tea from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
From the famed Makaibari tea estate we bring you the highest grade of green tea. Appearing like streaks of silver on a canvas of green, these leaves when brewed produce a gentle golden liquor. The Silver green liquor transports you into a world full of the symphony created by the jingle of the bangles of beautiful tea pickers and the rustle of the green tea leaves as their hands brush against it. This rare green tea is made exclusively for connoisseurs who are enthralled by a sweet tasting green tea without the overpowering grassy and chlorophyllic overtones. It has a dry finish and no lingering aftertaste.
Makaibari tea estate is one of the first organically certified tea gardens of Darjeeling. It is located in the foothills of the Himalayas in the town of Kurseong where the tea is grown at an altitude of around 4500ft.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love the green and white teas that come from the Darjeeling region, and this Makaibari Silver Green Tea from Tea People is an excellent example of why I enjoy these teas so much. This is lovely!
The flavor is vegetative with a taste that is a little grassy and a little bit like steamed vegetables. There are even some notes of seaweed to this. One of the more vegetative green teas that I’ve had in a while. It’s a very invigorating sort of vegetal taste … it is as if it’s nourishing my very soul.
And I love that even though it does have a strong vegetal tone to it, it’s not a bitter or overpowering “green” taste. It has a really pleasant sweetness to it too. I like the balance between sweet and savory to this cup. It has a slightly dry astringency at the tail with a clean aftertaste.
I like this one served hot, but, it’s also quite nice chilled too – try brewing it with some fresh mint and then chilling it – amazing! A very refreshing beverage.
Don’t forget to check out Tea People’s indiegogo fundraising campaign to help tea garden workers! This fundraiser is ending soon, so please consider contributing.
Silver Bud Ya Bao White Tea from Tea Source
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Tea Source
Tea Description:
This rare white tea from Yunnan is a winter-pluck tea with huge downy buds and leaves from wild growing tea trees and produces a liquor that is mellow, sweet, slightly fruity (ripe plums?), and lingers with a soft floral finish. Can also be aged, as a puer.
Learn more about this tea here.
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Taster’s Review:
I was happy to find this Silver Bud Ya Bao White Tea from Tea Source in this month’s Steepster Select box, if for no other reason than I enjoy Ya Bao teas and even though I do enjoy them, they are not often a tea that I put in my “cart” when I’m shopping for tea. It was a nice surprise to find this among this month’s tea selections.
I took this tea for a few steeps, because Ya Bao teas are one of those types of teas that the flavor develops over the course of several steeps – it’s definitely worth the effort to brew this one more than once!
The early infusions were very light in flavor. Very delicate. Sweet with hints of vegetation (on the grassy side) and notes that are reminiscent of honeydew melon. I taste a hint of nutmeg – a warm, gentle spice – with maybe a hint of white pepper. I love the subtle flavors here … although I do find myself wishing that they were a little more pronounced.
That wish was granted with the later infusions. The flavors began to develop with the second infusion, offering notes of peach and sweet, creamy notes. I am tasting less of the aforementioned spice notes now, and the vegetal notes have become more hay-like to me. This cup is sweeter and the flavors are more defined.
With the third infusion, I noticed the flavors beginning to wane and became less distinctive, which tells me that a fourth infusion may be futile. However, the three infusions that I did get from this tea, I really enjoyed them.
A really lovely Ya Bao! Thank you, Steepster, for selecting this tea for this month’s box! If you’re interested in the Steepster Select subscription program, click here to learn more.