the_skua steeps

After beginning this run of silver needles with a confusing and disappointing session, I apparently needed a little breather. Fortunately, this morning, Rishi helped bring me back onto the path of high quality white tea, providing a delightful session in the warm morning light.

Nice fuzzy crisp needles opened up with a tropical rainforest, dewy, wet, and damp. Honestly, the wet leaves in the cup after the first steep smell as how I imagine dark subtropical forests to smell. Rich, earthy, and floral. The flavors expound on the aroma, with intense juiciness (a la stone-fruit), straw, and detectable fresh and raw zucchini flesh, very clean. Later steeps elicit a more restrained arboreal character, bringing back memories of humid, indoor botanical gardens, a collection of plant pheromones.

Finally, as the leaves begin to breathe out their last bit of energy, the soup fills with pea tendrils and pumpkin seed. Ah, delightfully enjoyable tea once again fills me with a bright new-day spirit. No wonder this tea has won multiple awards.

REFERENCES

Gongfu Girl – Tea Review: Organic Silver Needle

Lao Ren Cha – Brewing: Rishi Silver Needle

Tags: silver needle, white

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 10:20 AM and is filed under group tastings, silver needle, white. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.