Ceylon Silver Tips Glentilt Estate 2011

Name; Ceylon Silver Tips Glentilt Estate, Low Grown
Type; White, Sri Lanka, Ceylon, Low Grown, Silver Needle, Glentilt Estate, 2011
Price; £ 9.50 for 50 grams from Monsoon Moutains Tea Company.

http://www.teahills.co.uk/Green_and_White_Teas.html

“Slender velvet needles of pale green grey and a hint of rose is how I'd describe the look of this exquisite white tea. This is a lovely mellow tea who's honeyed apricot liquor is delicate, very delicate, and very sophisticated. This is an elegant tea with a smooth silky feel and lovely at any time of the day”

Review; And now for something completely different. There seems to be a growing trend of orthodox estates producing variants from the standard black tea. For better or for worse it is certainly shaking things up. What I do like is it means these variants of the normal mean the teas are truly produced artisanal. Not to become a hipster or anything, but it means you can either get a batch with lots of TLC, or…is complete rubbish. Not too long ago I had the pleasure(?) of trying an Oolong produced in Darjeeling. While it still had much of the muscatel tones, without a full oxidation to release these tastes the tea ended up tasting a bit bland, and slightly off.

White teas are a whole ‘nother pot of tea if you don’t mine me saying. You get a delicious delicateness that means over-brewing is harder, with a concentration of the flavour in the first little leaves. Silver needle personifies this. Silver needle is generally the most expensive white tea to purchase (yes I know this is a major generalization, but at least I’m not calling white teas the rarest of teas like Teavana does). Lets dive into this Silver Needle shall we?

First-off the price. Auch! Luckily Monsoon Moutains does lovely sample packets so I didn’t spend a fortune (50 p a packet, 10 grams in a packet. I wish all tea shops did this). I spoke with the owner and she thought it tasted best brewing for 7-8 minutes (!) and I actually agree. I also brewed mine for around 85 degrees. Perhaps not being from the Fuding Da Bai cultivar means these tea leaves that are normally destined for black need a bit of time to adjust. Regardless, and perhaps only because it’s a white tea, it does not over brew. It also brew quite clear, with not many of the distinctive silver hairs falling off.

This particular sample has wonderful tones of dried hay, and apricots, with maybe lily of the valley in the background. If I was doing a blind tasting of this tea I would think it was a ya bao tea. I have to say the hay is a little dominant on the tastes for my preference. The aroma isn’t as strong on it as I’ve smelled from other Silver Needles, so problem with either 1.) The estate 2.) The Merchant or 3.) Me. As this is my first review of Monsoon Mountains I guess I shall reserve judgement, and as the estate is probably just started producing this sort of cuppa…

This tea is perfect for the summer weather that is starting to happen, cherry tree blossoms, and bright red lobster people mean that winter has gone! (touch wood).

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan