Usually, I’m like “WHITE TEA, WHAT IS THE POINT OF YOU?” but with this one, I think that I might have an inkling. I think that this tea bottles the spirit of that static electricity feeling that happens before a storm. It tastes like sweet flowers and quivering, excited air. It has a very distinct, kinetic-energy vibe.
My difficulty in untwisting this tea’s flavor is transparent. You, dear reader, are not sure whether you want to try this tea. My description is mangled and unhelpful, and I know it.
So I went over to the official description of the tea on Whispering Pines’ site for an assist. Surely THEY know what they made.
Um. They said, “Silver Needle has a dry leaf aroma of summer bluegrass and clover, where the wet leaf opens with wildflowers, jasmine rice, cinnamon, and a light touch of cannabis.”
This smells like… THE DEVIL’S LETTUCE? Really? I have a tragically limited knowledge of the Mary Jane, but I’m pretty sure this doesn’t. I sniffed it carefully and declare it Not Dank.
No, I’m afraid it smells like a summer storm on a bed of flowers.
But if you’re a more free-spirited type, please feel free to try some of this tea and get back to me about whether I’m right or wrong on this one.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Whispering Pines
Description
Our Silver Needle White Tea was harvested in early Spring 2017 and carefully processed to preserve the purity of the leaf. With pure nearly-opened buds covered in down white hairs, this tea is as beautiful to look at as it is to taste! Silver Needle has a dry leaf aroma of summer bluegrass and clover, where the wet leaf opens with wildflowers, jasmine rice, cinnamon, and a light touch of cannabis. The taste begins with a velvety sweet body with base notes of honeysuckle, horchata, and ripe pear. Mid sip presents a creamy feel similar to avocado and also hints at sweet clover and papaya. The aftertaste is reminiscent of osmanthus flower and a sweetness lingers on for minutes after the last sip. A fantastic silver needle!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Wild Raspberry Puerh from The Whistling Kettle
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh & White Tea Blend
Where to Buy: The Whistling Kettle
Tea Description:
This Pu-Erh is flavorful, mild and with an addition of silver needles, makes a great iced tea. Dr. Oz has recommended this tea as a way to help lose weight. Pu-Erh also help reduce cholesterol and great after a meal to help “cut the grease”. Pu-Erh has probiotic properties no other type of tea has.
Ingredients: Puerh, Silver Needle White Tea, Orange blossoms, cornflowers, raspberry bits and flavoring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love pu-erh, puerh, pu’er, however you want to spell it. Adore it. This has to be one of the deepest, darkest, richest looking brews I have ever seen in a puerh!
The aroma of this steeped tea is lovely, earthy, but more so fruity. It smells like a beginners puerh. Sweet, tart, tangy, yet with the undertones of a puerh’s earthiness just to ease a new puerh drinker into that world. I absolutely pick up the citrus in the aroma.
The sip is surprisingly creamy! I like this! The raspberry is present but not too tart which is nice. Its sweet but not cloying whatsoever. There is almost a vanilla flavor peeking through which must be more due to the puerh used rather than flavors or ingredients added as I see nothing to indicate vanilla in the description.
The only downside of purchasing puerh tea in this form is not really knowing what type of puerh base is being used but that is okay because I don’t see this as a puerh meant for puerh connoisseurs although certainly good enough to be enjoyed by one! Granted it is not a straight tea, so some may snub the idea of drinking a puerh blend but I tend to enjoy the best of both worlds as long as a tea is good it need not be unadulterated!
I am truly enjoying this tea and it is distinctively puerh yet lends a lovely fruity and creamy note that those who would normally not learn toward a puerh would enjoy. Again an excellent beginners puerh yet good enough for puerh enthusiasts to love as well.
As the tea cools more of the raspberry notes pop out, the citrus takes the background and the puerh gives a slight drying effect in the throat. There are woodsy notes, oak moss, peat, and a slight note of mushroom. The nice thing about this blend is that it allows the notes of the puerh to come through, is not muted by the other ingredients.
I am not sure how the silver needle white tea lends a hand in here unless it is added for health benefits or a boost to the creamy texture in some way but one would have no idea it was present in the flavor.
I give two thumbs up to The Whistling Kettle for this wonderful blend! It has indeed been done well!
