Doke Silver Needle

Thank you Stacy for this lovely sample tea!

I’ve been absent but busy lately tasting tea’s that aren’t ready for Steepster yet for a couple people, spent a little time with grandson Micah cooking vegetables, (he loves Brussel Sprouts!) and I went to a Native American Pow Wow at the University Saturday. ( a free local event http://youtu.be/65uifoEUMAw my homemade video)

I had just drifted off to sleep last night when there was a huge flash of light and loud explosion of thunder…bang! Hail then snow (it had rained during the evening briefly).

This morning there was fog and snow on the ground (which will melt quickly) so I made cauliflower alfredo and froze batches of the sauce for later. Here’s the link if you want to try the recipe. It’s not vegan, but it can be adapted. http://ahealthytreat.com/2013/09/26/cauliflower-alfredo-sauce/

After clean-up, I remembered that I had this tea from Stacy! I love Silver Needle and my friend Eric went “WOW” when he saw that it was ‘Doke’.

When you touch the leaves they feel like the softest velvet, remarkably delicate… slender, long strands that become longer and fatten up when wet. Beautiful olive green leaves with copper!

I placed the tea in my smallest Gaiwan, steeped a very short time at 180 degrees.

The aroma was a combination of bosc pear skin, honeysuckle, nutmeg and saffron.

I made a sweet cream white sauce yesterday, into which I grated fresh nutmeg. It was a rich and delicious sauce, delicate… without being too spicy. (the sauce became the base for stuffed Greek Zucchini)
When I tasted the Doke Silver Needle, I thought of sweet cream sauce I made the day before. Somehow, the connection between both sweet and savory, spice and tea came together. I love the combination.

I went to Butiki’s website to add this tea to Steepster and was surprised that my taste experience was so different than Stacy’s description. Maybe another time I’ll taste something different.

Tea is an ever-changing experience and Silver Needle is a tea that always takes me on a journey.

‘Doke’ Silver Needle Tea is complex and full flavored.

An exquisite tea!

Thank you CrowKettle – this was a nice surprise sample! (Sipdown, 166)

I waited until my variable kettle (http://bit.ly/1de2AJv) arrived so I could try it out! (Eeee! New kettle!!! I’m still trying to figure out how it works, but I do like that it doesn’t beep or anything once the water is heated!

This is a really nice white tea. I don’t often drink white teas because they taste like barely flavoured water, but this one has a lot of neat flavours to it. I’m getting hay, and peach notes. Very nice!

This tea is so fragrant and rich smelling
The taste is wonderful, woodsy, nutty, with light sweet creamy notes. I am not finding any cherry notes in this particular cup. I will pay closer attention with my next cuppa. It is amazing to me how whites sometimes have that creamy feel to them
Wonderful choice on a cold winter afternoon.

this was another of my morning teas….for some reason i was gravitating to my lighter teas even though first thing in the morning i generally want my black teas. I suspect that’s likely because i’m going to be with my bolder teas for the rest of the day. I love having this tea here and there. I don’t prefer whites and greens to my black teas, but there’s something to be said for having one or two of these unflavoured teas in my cupboard for when i want a cup of delicious, refreshing, spring, happy tea!

I was really craving lavender tea tonight, and remembered I dried a bunch of lavender flowers this past summer. Sooooo, tried an experiment, mixing lavender with this tea! I was a little heavy-handed on the lavender though… so that’s really all I taste, but it’s not too bad. Now I want to add cream and lemon and vanilla flavours :D (I debated putting some lemon zest, a drop of vanilla extract, and whipping cream in the cup, but held off for now. But I might try that tomorrow for curiousity if nothing else! I of course don’t have flavouring oils, so those are my available options.)

Sipdown! Another one I finished off at work today, instead of adding to my sipdown pile. We’re still manically busy, and I wanted a tea I was familiar with since I wasn’t going to be paying much attention. This one is a great choice for a warm day. Peppery, with distinctive cherry and almond notes, and a light “white tea” floral fluffiness. This one will be missed.

Sample comes from 221Tea who kindly sent me a very generous sample after I requested trying it in our large swap. I’ve wanted to try pretty much all Stacy’s Silver Needle blends for ages now – but haven’t been willing to blindly buy them for fear I wont like them for whatever reason. It’s semi foolish because I know already that I adore Silver Needle tea in general, but getting to try a sample first is just really reassuring…

So this is part of my breakfast tea line up: I haven’t had a lot of hot white teas in a while (just cold brews) because I don’t want to take the time in the mornings before work to make a hot cup, and after work I’m still too impatient to wait for the water to cool – I want the instant gratification of white tea! So, today is gonna be a white tea day, at least up until I leave for my date.

Dry, this smells so… Fresh. I feel like, already, I know I’m gonna be in love and I’m already feeling validated in wanting to buy a few ounces of it. Yum!

Steeped up: I was so right! There’s so much flavour in such a small amount of leaf! And it’s rich, and thick, and delightfully creamy! I for sure get sweet milky/creamy notes (almost like condensed milk) first and foremost, and then some gentle hay and malt notes and a cherry/marzipan like sweetness to finish off and round out the cup. It’s one of, if not the best straight Silver Needle I’ve ever had.

I don’t typically resteep but I’m confidant that I’ll be resteeping this one.

And…

On that note this will be added to my wishlist/shopping list because I am quite literally drooling. My mouth is watering that much.

EDIT: So I did resteep it and I’m very impressed! The creaminess, hay notes and marzipan flavours held up really well to the second steep. I did lose a lot of the maltiness but some more fruity notes emerged that I hadn’t picked up before.

And I’m still drooling… Mmm!

Sipdown!

I remember not loving this at first, but the more I have had it the more I really really like it. It’s just so smooth and nice. Definitely the predominant flavor is hay, but I think I’ve said before that it has a subtle floral quality to it from my taste buds.

I will definitely consider restocking this one on my next Butiki order.

Thank you Stacy for this lovely sample tea you provided me in my last order. A lot of white teas are not very well understood by me, or perhaps they are too light for my palate. I’m not getting all of the tasting notes that other people are getting, but I do think this has a good flavor of almonds and cream with a nice sweetness in the finish. I am definitely getting some fruit but not so sure if it’s cherry. If I was going to keep another white tea around in my stash, this might be a serious contender. I’ve really enjoyed trying it and it’s nice on this sunny afternoon.

Sipdown. Nice white tea, sweet, floral, hay notes…retains a nice taste even when lukewarm. Doesn’t go astringent on me. Between this and the Glenburn Silver Needle I’m not sure which I’d rather as they’re both nice, but I’ll probably stock this again in the future.