white tea- silver needle, thoughts?

White and yellow teas are among the most subtle.


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Jun 8th, '05, 19:14
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white tea- silver needle, thoughts?

by teachat » Jun 8th, '05, 19:14

I was recently given some of the silver needle white tea and did not check here before I made mine. Here is what I did and what my results were

I boiled my water, added 3 tsps. per cup to my infuser, and steeped for about 4-5 minutes. It smelled very strong and tasted exactly like it smelled, which was rather unpleasant. Do you think the reason it smelled/tasted so badly was due to the boiling water and perhaps too much tea added? I don't know if the flavor would be called bitter exactly but it was bad. (Although my older 2 children drank it down because they love tea time.) I so wanted to love the white tea as my others but now I am almost sick literally to think of making another cup. Also, would organic honey or cream be ok to add to this?

Upon reading other posts I see that it should be water to 180 degrees and to steep for about 7 minutes, 2tsp. per cup. Maybe I will give this a go. I just don't know if it will have that same aroma? Do the white teas have a far different aroma to them than other teas? I definitely did not think it was light or sweet. Any thoughts?

Tinamarie

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Jun 8th, '05, 19:14
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by teachat » Jun 8th, '05, 19:14

Hi there, sorry to hear about your bad experince. I think you got it figured out right. 2 teaspoons of white tea and you dont want boiling water, just as you said 180 degress for about 7 minutes. Whites and greens need to be steeped longer. So sounds like you got the right information. White tea is my favorite. I use an organic white honey from hawaii. The taste is not changed by the honey like your darker honeys. I have never tried with milk so i cant comment on that. I hope you give white teas a chance they are wonderful and very healthy for you. Hope this helps you a little. Happy tea drinking!

Charles Dunn

Nov 21st, '05, 20:02
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Re: white tea- silver needle, thoughts?

by acehigh » Nov 21st, '05, 20:02

Try 5 mins for Silver Needles at 175 a little less then 2 tsp... but you have to let the water boil then let it cool down to about 175.

Should work...

I wont add anything to white tea...if you need to add something pick another tea.

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