Jasmine Silver Needle
Bud-only white tea scented with fresh jasmine over repeated overnight cycles, the same technique used for jasmine green tea applied to a more delicate and more expensive base. The white tea’s own sweetness sits under the flower rather than competing with it.
Character
Softer and sweeter than jasmine green tea, because the white base contributes no vegetal edge for the flower to fight. The most delicate of the common jasmine teas and the easiest to over-steep into soapiness.
- Flavour
- Floral, Sweet
- Aroma
- Jasmine like, Honeyed
- Mouthfeel
- Light, Silky
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- jasmine, honey, hay, cream
- Aftertaste
- Sweet and perfumed, fading slowly.
Delicate intensity: light in the mouth with little grip. forgiving of a long steep.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Region
- Fuding
- Cultivar
- Fuding Da Bai
- Oxidation
- Minimally oxidised
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Drying → Scenting
Authenticity: As with jasmine green tea, the number of scenting cycles is the quality variable and loose petals in the packet are decorative rather than indicative.
Brewing
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1.5–2.5 g/100 ml · 80–90 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
4–6 g/100 ml · 90–100 °C · 5 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Jasmine green tea
The same scenting process on a green and a white base; the white is softer and sweeter.
- Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needle)
Scented and unscented Silver Needle. Scenting a bud-only white tea is unusual and the jasmine largely covers the delicacy the grade is bought for.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Jasmine dragon pearl
Shares 6 descriptors with Jasmine Silver Needle: floral, sweet, light, silky, jasmine like and honeyed.
- Bi Tan Piao Xue
Shares 5 descriptors with Jasmine Silver Needle: floral, sweet, light, silky and jasmine like.
- Darjeeling white tea
Shares 5 descriptors with Jasmine Silver Needle: floral, sweet, light, silky and honeyed.
- Fuding Silver Needle
Shares 5 descriptors with Jasmine Silver Needle: sweet, floral, light, silky and honeyed.
- Jiu Qu Hong Mei
Shares 5 descriptors with Jasmine Silver Needle: floral, sweet, light, silky and honeyed.
- Anxi Huang Jin Gui
Shares 4 descriptors with Jasmine Silver Needle: floral, sweet, silky and honeyed.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.
- Silver Needle vs Jasmine Silver Needle — The same bud-only white tea, one scented and one not, and a case where scenting works against what the grade is bought for.