Silver Needle

Tea: Silver Needle
Vendor: Red Leaf Tea
Price: $4.99 / .2oz - $12.99 / 1.6 oz
Vendor Description: Silver Needle White Tea is quite possibly one of the highest grade teas that you will find, and this, along with its rarity, explains its somewhat high cost. Nevertheless, we are sure that you will find its price more than worth it, as the 100% silver leaf buds offers tangy, fresh flavor with subtle flowery touches and a delicate astringency. This tea displays a cup that is bold in color and very sweet, giving you a delicate yet satisfying drinking experience.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea is a rather typical looking Silver Needle style tea. It has a dark green color underneath the hairs coating the leaves. There is a bit of a fruitiness to the aroma to these leaves. The buds are very thin, thinner than most that I have seen.

1st Infusion Parameters: 2.5g / 5 oz / 185F / 1:30

1st Infusion: There is a light haziness to this tea, somewhat expected from the small hairs coming off of the needles. The color of the tea has an odd yellow-red hue to it, the hue shows light shades of red which is rather unique for a Silver Needle. Aside from that the tea looks much like a typical Silver Needle. The aroma is thick, but not in the typical manner for a Silver Needle. Rather it is thick with small hints of creaminess inside of the aroma. The flavor is light with some light fruity hues to it. They seem to be at the tip of the flavor and like the Black Night, hard to pinpoint.

Rating: 3/10

Conclusion: This is a pretty normal Silver Needle. It does have a bit of an oddness to it, I can't get over thinking that some flavoring oils were added to this tea in a light amount. The thing that is probably harshest on this tea though is it's price. Even at the best price point, this tea is more expensive than the phenomenal Silver Needles offered by Jing Tea and Canton Tea Co. This tea just doesn't seem to have anything redeeming it for this price point.