TeaChat

I ordered a 2oz tin of the silver needles a few months ago and finished it soon after that because it was quite enjoyable. On the label, the steeping time read 3 minutes. My friend ordered the same product recently, and on it, it says 7 minutes. I'm beginning to think it was a weird typo, although 3 minutes still yielded a delicious cup in my opinion. Just making sure the reccomended steeping time is 7 minutes for the Silver Needles. That's it. Thanks.

My silver needles also says 7 minutes. I am pretty sure that is the corrct time for whites.

It's up to you.

I personnaly steep the same leaves up to 7 times, in a gawan; each steeping lasts 2/3 minutes.

Some says Silver Needles need 15 minutes of infusion, which I consider overestimated !

Just remember that you may infuse white tea leaves several time !



AndreMarie.

I always steep Silver Needle for seven minutes.

I swear that I saw 3 minutes somewhere before too. I used to do mine for 3 minutes before I got my larger tin which says 7 minutes on it. I personally think it is good both ways and has a unique taste each way. All tea making directions are only recomdendations and you should prepare it the way you think it tastes best, I say try it both ways and see.

-John

I got a can of Emperor white tea from The Republic of Tea and they recommend 30 to 60 seconds. When following this directions I get a very subtle and shy cup. If I steep it longer it becomes bitter. With the white needle and other Adagio whites 7 mins. and Chris´ 2 teasoons per cup I get a fuller cup, fragant and with more subtelties.

I do my white teas in my gaiwan for 4 infusions. 1, 3, 5, and 7 minutes, with progressively hotter water until the fourth infusion is actually boiling. That works well for me. I suppose if you are just going to infuse the leaves once, 7 minutes would be about right. But that just seems wasteful to me. White tea is expensive, and a great range of flavor can really be brought out through multiple infusions. (Not to mention, it makes the tea cheaper per cup.)

I prefer the white needles at 3 minutes. I also find just one tsp of this particular tea far more enjoyable than 2 tsp. I like my whites to be extremely subtle.

Tea is a very personal experience. One of the nice things about it is that you can vary it so much to suit your tastes.

No one can ever tell you how long to steep your tea. What the tea labels are really telling you is "this is how long most people like to steep it." It doesn't make it wrong or right, it is just a suggestion.

How long you steep it depends on your particular taste. If you like it at three minutes, drink it at three minutes. If you like it better at seven minutes, do that.

javyn wrote:I do my white teas in my gaiwan for 4 infusions. 1, 3, 5, and 7 minutes, with progressively hotter water until the fourth infusion is actually boiling. That works well for me. I suppose if you are just going to infuse the leaves once, 7 minutes would be about right. But that just seems wasteful to me. White tea is expensive, and a great range of flavor can really be brought out through multiple infusions. (Not to mention, it makes the tea cheaper per cup.)

How much water do you use per infusion?
Technically, a cup is 8 oz. but some companies will specify a 6 oz. cup.
Of course it is a joy to experiment too! Tks.

I found a teaspoon and a half of tea works well for my 6 ounce gaiwan (2 tsp to 1 tbsp for Junshan Yinzhen). A teacup should be 6 ounces. If you use an 8oz cup, you should add a little bit more tea leaf since that is about a 33% increase in water from 6oz.