Tag: Grand Tea

White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He by Grand Tea
White Tea / Straight
$52.00HKD for 25g

Grand Tea has provided me with White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Another silver needle white tea from Grand Tea to try and review and I couldn’t be more please. Similarly from an earlier review (White Down Silver Needle – Fuding), White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He is from the Fujian Province of China and is an expensive form of tea due to the fact that it’s young buds harvested early in the growing season.

White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He is a very soft tea! There’s a lot of tiny feathery hairs on these leaves and it’s kitten-soft to the touch. The dry leaf has a subtle aroma to it that reminds me a bit of dragonfruit – just a hint of light fruity sweetness.

Preparation

Grand Tea recommends steeping White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He in 70-80°C (158-176°F) for 2-3 minutes and no longer than 5 minutes. My initial steep of this silver needle was for 2 minutes.

First Taste

White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He steeps to a very pale yellow. The aroma that comes up from this tea still reminds me of dragon fruit, but then there’s some additional aromas as well. I get a bit of cantaloupe and cucumber from this tea, and just a light honey sweetness from the fragrance of this steeped tea.

Luckily, this silver needle does not disappoint on flavour. I taste a mix of dragon fruit with the freshness of cucumber flavour, along with just a bit of sweetness that reminds me of honey. This tea is much like the other silver needle I reviewed recently from Grand Tea in that it has a thickened texture, despite being thin. It winds up being a nice full mouthfeel to this tea when I drink it with zero bitterness or astringency.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He a total of five times (six steeps total), increasing the steep time by about 45 seconds per additional steep. I found that the first resteep was the deepest in colour – it became a bright golden yellow. The flavours of this tea intensified as I steeped it, and reached a peak in flavour by the second and third resteeps. I found that the cantaloupe flavour was at its strongest, and balanced well with the freshness of the cucumber flavours and the light honeyed sweetness in the background.

My Overall Impression

I loved Grand Tea’s White Down Silver Needle – Zheng He. I might even say that it was more enjoyable than the other recent silver needle review I did for Grand Tea because I love the added freshness that the cucumber flavours add to this tea. The flavours of this straight white tea are wonderfully complex and a delight for the taste buds. I love how the subtle changes led to a different balance of aromas and flavours in this silver needle and I really enjoyed steeping it again and again to see how each steep would differ. I had this tea while having lunch and it paired quite nicely with both my savoury meal and the fruit that I had afterwards, so it would be a good option to pair with dessert as well.

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White Down Silver Needle – Fuding by Grand Tea
White Tea / Straight
$56.00HKD for 25g

Grand Tea has provided me with White Down Silver Needle – Fuding for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I’ve become such a fan of white teas over the last couple of years that it was really exciting for me to see that Grand Tea had sent me some white tea to try! White Down Silver Needle – Fuding is a straight white tea from the Fujian province of China. As per the Grand Tea website, this is one of the more expensive types of tea due to the young buds being picked early in the growing season.

White Down Silver Needle – Fuding came to me in gold sample packet, the material feels a little thinner than previous experiences with Grand Tea’s sample packaging but that it is really neither here nor there as it does it’s job – holding the tea. The dry leaf of this tea is amazing – the tea leaves are soft and downy. You can really see the individual hairs of the down on these young leaves and the tea leaves are soft to the touch – soft like kittens. The smell that comes up to me from the dry leaf is also a delight – the fragrance from this white tea reminds me of honeyed floral sweetness.

Preparation

Grand Tea recommends steeping White Down Silver Needle – Fuding in 70-80°C (158-176°F) for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep of this silver needle was in 175°F for 2 minutes.

First Taste

White Down Silver Needle – Fuding steeps to a very, very, very pale light yellow. The aroma that comes up from this tea is very much like the dry leaf – there’s some honey notes to it, floral notes, and something that reminds me a bit of honeydew melon. The tea itself has a thicken feel which lets all the flavour coat the inside of my mouth. The sweet floral notes are tasty, and so is the refreshing quality of the honeydew that I found in there.

I poured off a cup to be iced and I’m happy to report that White Down Silver Needle – Fuding does well as an iced tea as well

A Second Cup?

I resteeped White Down Silver Needle – Fuding a total of 8 times (9 steeps total) before the flavour began to be too watered down. The texture of the tea thins out by the second resteep, and the honeydew actually comes more forward while the floral flavours take a step back. Throughout all the steeps of this white tea, the honey flavours remain quite strong until about the sixth or seventh resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Grand Tea’s White Down Silver Needle – Fuding. This tea does so well from the initial steep to all of the resteeps that follow. You can definitely resteep it at least six times, you could push it further like I did if you don’t mind the fact that the tea really begins to lose some of that beautiful flavour. I loved how complex the tea was with the chances from being mostly honey and floral to a switch to being mostly honey and honeydew. Definitely a tasty tea and one to be enjoyed throughout the day, since it holds up to being resteeped repeatedly so well.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.