Yin Zhen

This tea is nice, light, and fresh. A wonderful brew of mild grain/grass with a honey sweetness. Definitely a good white tea, holding up to a high temp with a longer steep (accidentally).

This is the last of the white tea samples I received from Nannuoshan (Thanks!). I saved the silver needle for last as I love silver needle. This one wins the award for best fragrance as the gorgeous dry silver haired buds hit the hot damp teapot. It has the usual hay fragrance but amped up and more wine like with fruit – apple I think.

The liquor was only slightly yellow tinted after a 30 second steep. The wet leaf is fresh and green, having an almost toasted scent. It also seemed slightly malty.

The taste was at first like scraping the white part of the rind of a watermelon slice. Next was cucumber. I caught notes of grass and hay, as well as floral and fruit. The floral was described by one reviewer as honeysuckle. It is light and glancing notes but there.

The second cup (45s) was darker in flavor, slightly more intense with a peppery note up front while hot. The aftertaste of both cups was hay and floral.

Sadly, I don’t have time to take this further today. I am running out the door for praise band practice. I have invited an awesome guitarist friend to come worship, jam, and otherwise have great fun with us. I’ll try not to make my wife too upset by rolling in really late, but no promises.

To wrap this up, this is one of the top silver needles I have tried. Once you get near the top I don’t know if you can single just one out, but this is definitely in the running.

This is my eighth, and final, sample from nannuoshan. Thanks so much to Gabriele and nannuoshan for sending this my way! I should mention that one reason I asked to sample this tea is that I have yet to find a white tea that I really like. I’m hoping this one will change my mind.

This tea is beautiful. The leaves are a mint green color and are covered in what looks like white down. The ends are darker, especially the stem ends which look as though they’ve been scorched. Such a wide array of colors in each leaf. This is really something special.

Side note: I think I must be having some trouble with my digital kitchen scale because it never gives me consistent readings. I thought at first that I must be doing something wrong, but now I’m pretty sure it’s just not that great. With that said, I think I used about 3 grams of tea leaves here.

I did a quick rinse with the leaves though I’m not entirely sure this is necessary with a white tea. Gabriele mentioned in his note that this would work for all but green teas so I did it here just in case. The first infusion is very light in color and in flavor. I was worried that this would be bitter which has been my experience with other white teas but it really isn’t. I’m not picking up any specific flavors though.

The leaves on the second infusion smell stronger, almost malty like a dark rye bread. It doesn’t necessarily taste like rye, just like a dark wheat bread. Maybe something like pumpernickel. This surprises me because I don’t think of white tea as having a bold flavor. It’s not quite as strong as a darker tea, but the flavor is definitely there.

By the third steep, the tea is starting to calm down. It’s still very flavorful, but it’s nothing like the punch of the second infusion. I might otherwise try to steep this one again, but it’s getting late so I’m going to end here.

Infusions
4 ounces water + 195 degrees + 45 sec, 45 sec, 60 sec

The dry leaf is adorable. The tiny, tender leaves are covered with a downy silver hair that coats the inside of the sample pouch. I held a few my hand and admired them before putting them in the infuser. I did not follow the brewing directions online, opting to use my preferred method for first tastings of straight tea. There is enough in the sample that I will be able to experiment with brewing parameters a little.

Method:
~1.5tsp/10oz
Pre-boiling
First steep: 2min
Second steep: 2min 30sec
Third steep: 3min
Fourth steep: 4min

The liquid is a very pale, clear yellow. It smells of apricot, hay, and fresh flowers. I wait several minutes until it’s just cool enough to drink. My first impression is that it tastes very, very fresh. It has a natural sweetness and it tastes very “clean”. Faintly floral, like honeysuckle flowers, with a somewhat fruity undertone. There is a long, deliciously creamy finish. Soft and lovely. It’s a taste that lingers in the mouth.

The second steep yields stronger notes of fruit. There’s a sweet lychee flavor, followed by hay, flowers, white peach, and cream. Long finish is underscored with a light tartness. I’m in love with the delicate, sweet peach notes in this infusion; it took me a moment to pick them out. It’s DEFINITELY white peach, not yellow peach.

Third steep is thick, juicy, and malty—malty?! It’s still has a strong, fresh, fruity taste, but the creamy notes have become much stronger. Almost milky or custard-like. I was surprised by how much flavor was in this cup. So, I opted for a fourth. It contained many of the same flavors, but they were a little less intense. Ah, well!

Thanks for the sample nannuoshan! I can tell this is a high quality white tea. I’m super excited to try the Dian Yin Zhen to see how it compares.

I am not a so big tea expert, but i definitely love this tea!
I already tried different kinds of tea, but This is so exquisite and flavourful. It has an unique flavour, I have never tried a tea like this and honestly I will buy it again when it will finish.