Tea Type: White Tea
Where To Buy: Canton Tea
Product Description:
Entirely hand-made from Fuding Da Bai Hao tips and sun dried, this delicious silver needle white tea is a high quality Yin Zhen with the characteristic white hairs on a pale green leaf. This high quality Silver Needle white tea has been infused only with the freshest hand-picked jasmine blossoms. Unlike many Jasmine teas this is an authentic infusion made by scattering the Jasmine flowers over the tea buds over several nights so the buds absorb the naturally sweet, heady scent of the jasmine.
The liquor is light and bright and the taste is soft and mellow with the notes of Jasmine lifting the flavour and leaving a long and pleasant aftertaste.
Brewing tip : The Chinese brew this skillfully made tea very lightly so a serving of just 2 grams will be enough to give a delicious infusion. Brew at 75c and infuse at least 3 time.
Tasters Review:
This Jasmine Silver Needle is just perfect for me! It’s weird because I’m not usually drawn to Jasmine nor am I a fanatic of Silver Needle but this is really great!
I don’t know what it is but this specific Jasmine Silver Needle from Canton Tea reminds me of my grandparent’s backyard in Florida…the way it smells…that is. Very airy…clean, crisp, floral. A breath of fresh air!
The taste of the tea is super crisp and clean, too! The Jasmine doesn’t have that funky old floral after taste that some Jasmines seem to have. Everything is RIGHT with this Jasmine Silver Needle…at least for me it is! This should have been called Jennifer’s Jasmine Silver Needle! (Just kidding)
Mi Lan Dan Cong Tea from Canton Tea Company
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Canton Tea Company
Product Description:
Dan Cong is the champagne of oolongs: ripe with intense fruit and sweetness. This high grade example comes from a plantation on the lower slopes of Wu Dong Mountain, Chao Zhou. The leaves are thoroughly fermented and baked to produce a rich liquor with unique flowery and honeyed notes that can be enjoyed through multiple infusions.
Our Buyer’s notes
“This tea is more heavily baked than the Song Zhong Dan Cong to allow the tea to produce its unique honey and lychee flavours.”
Tasters Review:
Oolong’s are fun! They are vary diverse! Everything about them from the leave to the color and aroma and taste to the after taste…even the way they sit in the strainer once infused!
With this specific one – Mi Lan Dan Cong from Canton – the description says floral and honey notes and I can certainly pick up on those notes! But what I also find interesting about this tea is…the scent. The scent reminds me of being out in nature…like in the middle of the woods or even on a beach…those familiar nature-smells! Then when you taste it…it’s not really what you expect…altho even more pleasant. There is a soothing and lingering yummy aftertaste, as well!
I almost forgot how much I enjoyed this Oolong. May it never slip my mind again! Lovely!
2nd Flush Darjeeling – Margarets Hope Silver Moon from Canton Tea Company
Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: Canton Tea Company
Product Description: We are delighted to include this as one of our first examples of top grade Indian tea. It is a magnificent high grown Darjeeling from Margaret’s Hope, a tea garden that’s known and loved the world over. The long twisty leaves are a delightful mix of chocolate and copper browns with an abundance of silvery tips. It produces a bright gold liquor with a malty aroma, a well rounded flavour and a sweet, fruity aftertaste. This fresh, brisk tea denotes a well-produced, high grade Darjeeling. We only have a few kilos and then there is no more available – anywhere.
Tasters Review:
These leaves are so fun! They have quite the personality! Long, thin, windy, twisty, brown-grey leaves. The aroma is quite memorable with a malty and almost chewy scent – moreso than any Darjeeling I have tried.
The taste is one to remember, too! Fairly bold and full but less astringent than most Darjeelings I have tried. It also leaves you with a pleasant and semi-sweet aftertaste.
I must say this is one of my favorite Darjeelings to date! Very unique and leaves me wanting more!
Alishan High Mountain Oolong from Canton Tea Co
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Canton Tea Co
Product Description:
Alishan (Mount A Li) is one of Taiwan’s most famous oolong tea-growing areas. The mountain has a rich soil and ideal climactic conditions. It is cool and moist with daily mists so the plants grow very slowly and produce tender, flavourful tea leaves and buds.
This Alishan oolong is hand-picked and hand-processed by traditional methods into rolled ‘fists’. It has a smooth, fruity, sweet taste and a pleasing bright colour. This tea has a complexity that means each brewing brings out new characteristics and flavours.
New 2010 spring season tea. This is a very good example of one of Taiwan’s most celebrated high-grown oolong teas. The fresh, clean almost creamy taste makes it an extremely refreshing and satisfying tea to enjoy at any time of day.
Our Buyer’s notes
“This tea is produced by an old friend of mine on a small tea farm in Ali Shan. He is a skilled tea maker and only uses the best leaves processed in the old-fashioned way to ensure a sweet taste.”
Tasters Review:
This has been on my “TO TRY LIST” for a long time! I tried this both ICED and HOT.
HOT is crisp and clean and truly Ali Shan! All I can think of while drinking this is beautiful and happy thoughts…it’s bright and sweet! It’s oddly…but fabulously CREAMY for an Oolong! It’s a gem of an Oolong and I just LOVE it!
COLD…it seems juicer but is still very creamy and quenches my thirst! Excellent either COLD or HOT…YUM!
Tie Guan Ying (Iron Buddha) from Canton Tea Company
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where To Buy: Canton Tea Co
Product Description:
This classic Tie Guan Yin produces a delicious, light-coloured, medium-bodied liquor. The first infusion combines toasty, floral notes with a touch of honey and becomes more fruity with successive infusions.
The dark, lightly oxidised green leaves are rolled into small tight fists. The liquor is amber-green with a smooth, heavy texture on the tongue. The flowery and fruity profile of this tea has a touch of honey and at first releases the pleasant orchid notes – after a couple of brews it yields the soft fruitier notes and has a sweet long lasting after taste.
Tasters Review:
There are few teas that have made me say “WOW” and at the same time have FUN with my cup. This is one of those teas. The reason this tea was fun for me was because the tastes seem to change – almost like a twist here and a twirl there – maybe a tea roller-coaster of sorts…with a surprise at each turn and a rush of excitement when you realize you are having more fun that you should!
At first it has a Buttery Vegetable type smell and the taste is buttery THEN fruity and almost nutty. It has a sweet and buttery aftertaste and is VERY smooth.
As it cools a little I can taste the ever so slight bit of natural-salt-likeness…it seems to fit in quite nicely!
This tea is fun because it makes you think – there is so much more than the eye can see BUT more importantly…it’s darn-tasty!