‘Orchid Fragrance’ Silver Needles
Winter is a pregnancy. Mother nature stores energy over Winter, and with Spring that energy is released into natures children, who blanket the land with green. If the children are allowed to grow wildly, they can use that energy from winter to become enormous trees with vast canopies. That’s if; if we as humans can pick the spring leaves at the beginning of spring, before that energy is used up, we can consume it ourselves and reap the benefits. This is the point of spring tea. Beyond having a delicate flavor, it has the highest amount of stored energy. That is, if you believe in all that.
In the past 10 years, I have not had a silver needle tea comparable to this, not even close really.
Nothing was scented in the making of this tea. The aromatic result could only be obtained through a combination of factors limited to cultivation area, harvest time, withering amount, and a timely and proper dehydration. I have had many bai hao yin zhen from various locale’s and never has one been this good. Not in the ballpark of flavor, profundity, or price for that matter.
Because Damn this is an expensive tea. Could it be worth it? My favorite Phoenix oolong is less than it! But beauty comes in many forms I guess, and the feeling I get from this tea though existing in others, is quite rare to experience.
It’s about tranquility insitu. There surely isn’t a better example of the aroma of a mountainside in summer. It grounds you in a strong sense of place. Living in a fantasy as a mountain hermit.
That sounds damn intangible. Let me try to steer this into something more concrete.
It’s hot outside, the tea bush longs for rain. It’s becoming dehydrated – that’s the flavor. The raw mountainside under heat stress. The aroma is full and circular; full in the sense that nothing feels missing, and circular in the sense that it doesn’t seem to be something you can ‘complete’. Like many teas you may encounter, they have smells. When you bring the tea to your nose there is a beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes you keep looping. There is no beginning. It’s hard to explain and I cannot do better.
Tasting Notes:
Raw, cold, primeval forest, birch forest in spring or summer, hot humid mountains on a hiking path, green, circular (no beginning or end), tree like in a sense that its woody, but young and fragile. Mossy.
Heavy weight, perfect harmony of aroma and flavor, tranquil. It feels like you’re at the grassi lakes, sitting on a bench, sun intermittent, balancing between being hot and cool.
The finish of the tea has a lingering cooling note with a sweet bitterness similar to papaya.
The 2nd pot is like the mountainside on a hot day. Very specific. Another thing about it is an acidic smell that comes when pumpkin carving at Halloween. Pumpkin guts/juice. Aloe vera. The flavor is a little narrower, tighter.
I recommend you brew it in this manner, at least to set your bearings.
1g tea per 60g boiling water, Steeping 2 minutes and 52 seconds.
I’ve found (for my taste) this to be perfect. 8 seconds longer steeping and I can feel the presence of astringency while 8 seconds sooner doesn’t allow for this amount of richness. 1:60 allows for the maximum amount of flavor while the flavor remains clear. Nothing is muddy. Any stronger and too many flavors present themselves. Any weaker and it always seems like it could be more substantial. We all taste things differently, this is the best I can do for myself. If you start here, I think I can save you a lot of work.
