Description
Yin Zhen Guangxi Silver Needle (广西白毫银针) is a delicate yet flavoursome white tea. It is grown in Baise, Guangxi Province, utilising plants specifically used for white tea production that originate in the famous Fuding tea growing area of Fujian Province. The neat silver leaves produce a fruity and woody liquor with a sweet, satisfying flavour. This particular tea is grown to organic standards and is an early spring First Flush picking from 15 March 2023.
This Yin Zhen Guangxi Silver Needle is picked from the best early spring buds. It is a high grade Bai Hao (白毫) variety, which literally means White Hair, named after the white ‘hairs’ on the tea buds. These hairs give a silver shine to the leaves that appear fluffy and are soft to touch. The presence and quantity of white hairs signifies both good quality tea and careful processing. After picking, the leaves are gently wilted, piled for a short period of time for some minimal enzyme oxidation and finally dried.
Guangxi Province is not particularly famous for growing white tea, but some farmers have brought plants from Fujian and planted them for white tea production here. Similar to our Xue Ya Guangxi Snow Bud, the cultivar utilised is the famous Fuding Da Bai (福鼎大白 – Fuding Large White). This cultivar is used in Fujian to produce our classic Yin Zhen Silver Needle. However with the change of terrior comes a change in flavour. The Fuding versions tend to be the most delicate, having a very light profile. This Guangxi version of Yin Zhen however delivers a more complex profile, with pronounced fruity and woody notes and a good dose of honey flavour. By comparison, our Yin Zhen Yunnan Silver Needle has the most woody character since it is made from a different cultivar.
Yin Zhen Guangxi Silver Needle has been carefully processed to create neat silver leaves. The dried leaves have a lightly fruity and woody aroma. The liquor produced is a pale golden colour with a light aroma. The liquor has a balanced profile, having a good body yet light flavour. The main smooth flavours are woody and fruity with notes of plums and melon. There is plenty of complex honey sweetness that makes the liquor particularly satisfying to drink. The clean aftertaste is comforting with long-lasting sweet flavours.
This tea is best brewed at 80°C for 3-4 minutes according to your taste, brewing multiple times. Like with all white teas, you can experiment with both low temperature and long steeping time as well as high temperature and short steeping time as an alternative way of brewing.
Our Yin Zhen Guangxi Silver Needle white tea was last featured in the April 2023 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.