Silver Needles

Do you want all the fantastic health benefits of a cup of tea but find black tea too strong and green tea to bitter?

China Silver Needles Yin Zhen from The Tea Centre ("Silver Needles"), is an extremely delicate white tea.  It is the tiny ends of the new tea leaves very gently plucked off the plants (usually by women as they have a softer touch).  It is a rather exclusive tea but for an even more exclusive version, try the China Silver Needles Jun Shan from The Tea Centre.  It is the finest quality and most delicate white tea on the planet. Only picked on two days each year, it is often called the Emperor's Tea.

As I'm too poor to justify the China Silver Needles Jun Shan, I have tried the Yin Zhen version. 

Silver Needles barely colours the water but the smell is beautifully fresh and very subtle.  Rather like the fresh smell after rain when the earth steps, thoroughly washed clean, out of the shower.

It tastes very slightly of green tea but is exceptionally smooth.  Not a hint of bitterness or acid.  It is extremely refreshing and I imagine it would be a fantasic drink for summer, either hot or iced.  Everything about this tea is calming but bright.

I highly recommend a good quality white tea.  It is so different from black, green and oolong teas that even those that don't care for the taste of tea will find it to their liking.  My own mother who would like to drink tea for the health benefits but cannot stand the taste of traditional teas, loves white tea, particularly when it is flavoured with fruit.

China Silver Needles Yin Zhen:

China Silver Needles Jun Shan: