Silver Needle & Tea Blossoms

Yes, tea trees flower, which is easy to forget, as we are always so engaged with their buds and leaves. They blossom once every year, in November. The delicate flowers used to make this tea come from the same trees grown on Mr. Tang's farm. They are carefully hand harvested as they bloom, and left to slowly dry in the sun, before being finished over charcoal to remove their remaining moisture; a process that takes over two weeks.

For Mr. Tang, crafting beautiful teas from a clean and balanced ecosystem is sacred. He is deeply dedicated to the craft of traditional tea making; this philosophy guides everything he does, and is embedded in every single tea he makes. Alongside being an expression of this special ecosystem, his teas are so distinctly peaceful, and feel extremely clear, just as he feels as a person.

This is a very unique tea in Mr. Tang's portfolio. The Silver Needle is made from the leaves of the Jinggu Big White varietal: trees that Mr. Tang had planted when he first started his tiny organic tea farm decades ago. We will always be struck by the appearance of this tea cake: the contrast of the burnt-orange flowers pressed into the pale, silver needles.

It is an especially good year for this pressed Silver Needle & Tea Blossom cake. Both the dried blossoms and the liquor this tea brews are a deeper colour this year. Wet in the gaiwan, the petals and leaves look fleshy and metallic, like copper.

Even dry, this tea is intensely fragrant, like baked fruit, vanilla, and grains. We detect the quality and robustness of the silver needle both in its soft, integrated mouthfeel and in the clarity of its taste. This gentle, viscous texture is the perfect medium for its white flower and stone fruit notes. The nectar from the flowers is incredibly sweet – you'll think someone melted wildflower honey into it while you weren't looking.