The Story of Silver Needles
Like any legend there is always a grain of truth at the heart of the story. It is still produced traditionally in the beautiful Fujian Province, in the first blush of spring, when the fresh buds appear. These are carefully collected, withered and dried in the open sun.
The knack with white teas is to have as little interference as possible in the processing. This lightness of touch retains much of the leave’s cellular structure in tact. They are left to wither gradually in the open air to be constantly monitored and turned. This takes three days which is much longer than the three hours one would expect to find in green tea processing. This slower natural rhythm and longer time invested in the tea brings greater layers of subtlety to the drink. It also results in greater complexity of chemical reactions during the process. Tea enzymes produce a balance of sugars and theanine. These are responsible for the characteristic and totally natural, fresh, sweet flavour of white teas.
Its rich list of original contents preserved by using these age-old and time-honoured methods have been shown to have many health benefits. Active enzymes anti-oxidants and polyphenols are all still present, thanks to the well-preserved nature of the bio-cell structure of the leaves.
Enjoy this incredibly rare and delicate tea over and over again, for every subsequent infusion will reveal wave after wave of gentle variations of flavour and colour.
Contains;
Silver Needles, White China Tea
