Dec 24
Troy’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "This is the kind of tea you could really grow to love, although not the tea you can afford to. At around 20 bucks (Yankee doodle) for 50g you have to have a fairly heavy wallet to enjoy this on a daily basis, but it could still have a place as an occasional splurge."
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9/10
TeaGschwendner, a name I will never try to pronounce, is still managing to find itself on quite a few lips. I'm not sure how anyone manages to say it without loosing a tooth, but nonetheless many seem apt to try. The fine gents and ladies at TeaGschwendner are making quite a name for themselves, a name that cobbles together English and German in new, exciting, and awkward ways. Their also, of course, associating that name with quite a few high quality teas.TeaGschwendner's China Yin Zhen Silver Needle is a white tea that finished as a top five finalist in the Silver Needle category of white teas at the World Tea Championship. While most white teas are actually white, this type of tea is most typified by the lack of overt processing. White tea is, for all intents and purposes, simply rolled fast dried tea leaves. Yin Zhen, or Bai Hao Yinzhen, is the highest grade of white tea, it is made from young leaves that have been partially shaded to give a white color.
The leaves have such rich, and lustrous, fur coats that you expect a circa-1960's radical to cover it in red paint. This just stands as clear, and undeniable, evidence of just how untouched this tea was, nothing could have mashed, mangled, ground, or banged this tea without marring that snow white coat. The leaves are crisp, well formed, and slightly fleshy, Opening the bag you can pull into your nostrils a slight, and ephemeral, scent of green tea, like the scent of a woman who knows the proper use of perfume.
As its late, and my body requires tea, in fact demands it, I decided to forgo formality and make a simple pot of char, simply. I pulled from my magical closet of wonders, and dust bunnies, the small tea set my parents gave me when I last visited. Its a small glazed teapot with a mesh metal strainer. I covered the tea with fairly warm, but not quite hot, water, and enjoyed. One great perk of white tea is that it tends, if of decent quality, not to go bitter, so you can just leave it in the pot and enjoy ever stronger cups as the leaves writhe in just the right mix of pleasure and pain.
I will say that the high mineral content of my filtered tap water probably does no white tea justice, but nonetheless this one soldiered on. You can get from three to four steeps from this tea, and keep it steeping until you've reached just the right strength. It has a buttery-artichoke flavor that grows strong without bitterness over the minutes. It starts as the whisper of a half remembered conversation, but can be steeped long enough to attain a proper speaking voice without ruining the flavor. The wet leaves smell of cooked green beans, and leave you wondering whats sitting in the fridge for later.
This is the kind of tea you could really grow to love, although not the tea you can afford to. At around 20 bucks (Yankee doodle) for 50g you have to have a fairly heavy wallet to enjoy this on a daily basis, but it could still have a place as an occasional splurge. Just remember with every sip, she's a little too high maintenance for you.
— To purchase TeaGschwender China Yin Zhen Silver Needles, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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