King Silver, matured traditional white tea
King Silver, matured traditional white tea
$ 23.10
頭採新品種 古法銀針王
Baihao Yinzhen at its best
If you like Silver Needle for its health benefits, but wish for more taste, King Silver is perhaps the choice. There are a few reasons why this pure leaf shoot white tea has better epicurean appeal:
- Traditional processing — it takes more time, more mastery
- Mastery in maturing — not most people in the tea trade know how to mature a white tea like we do
- Special cultivar — we have employed a special cultivar that combines the complexity of a Yunnan Daye and the sweetness of Fuding Dabai to have it grown in Zhenghe, the mecca for old style white tea
- Top quality pluck — only top quality first flush from our specially appointed garden, no blending. Not only does that give a uniform, pleasing visual appeal, but also the fantastic taste that is possible only with such care and dedication.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
In stock
Taste profile
Nose: Earthy, herbal nose in overtone of the sweetness of hay and notes of Chinese nan-xing almond. Interplayed with accents of liquorice, matured mandarin orange peel, fresh moss and a slight hint of cacao. Palate: Softly smooth body that is slightly sweet and cooled with a lightest accent of mint and mellowed citrus peel. Finish: Quenching, sweet and lightly malty aftertaste.
Infusion tips
Use boiling water and 25 ~ 30% more leaves for a full taste profile of this rare and matured white tea. As always with Fujian white teas, blanch well before infusion.
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Additional information
| Weight | 90 g |
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| Dimensions | 18 × 9 × 5 cm |
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Reviews(1)
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Cream Stout, Wuyi yancha oolong
Tea, Oolongs, Wuyi-shan, Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Neutral Energy武夷岩茶、矮腳烏龍
Silk Finish Aijiao Wulong:
No this is not the beer but 100% pure oolong. Wuyi classic oolongs in general distinguish themselves from other oolongs with a stout, rather immediate and powerful impact. Tea Hong’s Cream Stout differs from the crowd with a soft creamy finish and a light tone of cream that is developed naturally in the tealeaves themselves. This is possible only with a new pedigree of tea cultivar, Aijiao Wulong. We believe you’ll like the oolong much better than the beer, as we do.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack 
Silver Needle Supreme, traditional white tea
Tea, White teas, Minnan/ Mindong, Fujian, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, Cool Energy福鼎 明前 高山白毫銀針
Genuine Baihao Yinzhen:
The first ever modern white tea, Silver Needle that came about in late 18th century withstands time as still the highest quality in the category. Produced in the origin of Fuding with the original pedigree cultivar Fuding Daibai, Tea Hong’s Silver Needle Supreme is a high altitude first flush that distinguishes itself with a subtle yet the most joyful aroma and flavors amongst its peers. The finest and purest of this variety.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack 
Honey Orchid, Phoenix dancong oolong
Tea, Oolongs, Fenghuang | Phoenix, Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Neutral Energy鳳凰單樅、烏崠蜜蘭香
Milan Xiang Dancong:
The fine mastery that produces Tea Hong’s Honey Orchid has to be coupled with select first flush harvests from high grown tea bushes in order to deliver the kind of quality only a restricted circle of tea aficionados have known and kept to their secret. The overall production volume for such quality in the whole Phoenix region is only a few thousand kilos after all. Most will go to local elites, and the rest to the few hardcore Phoenix oolong fans that are also tea merchants, like us. This tea is also available in a small portion as a part of Tea Taster’s Box: Nine Oolong Samplers.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack 
Black Leaf Special, Phoenix dancong oolong
Tea, Oolongs, Fenghuang | Phoenix, Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Cool Energy鳳凰單欉 上品大烏葉
Fenghuang Da Wuye:
If classic Phoenix oolongs are too sweet, and bouquet ones too florally aromatic for you, Tea Hong’s Black Leaf Special maybe your cup of tea. It is produced from a new cultivar developed for maltiness and complexity in taste. A very different oolong from the rest. Our special selection is harvested from higher altitudes near the oolong mecca that is Wudong.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
Definitely the best aged white tea I’ve ever had. Not that I drink much of this category, but I’ve aged my own Silver Needles before, and occasionally stumble upon something interesting that is stored well and has good flavors, so I have some familiarity with how white tea can change over the course of time.
I’m no expert but this is easily the cleanest and most pristine flavor profile I’ve experienced with an aged white tea – it feels like King Silver was aged in a pharmaceutical-grade time capsule, where not even a single particle of dust was introduced. The aging and storage of this tea is entirely without flaw.
An initial rinse with warm water or a blanch with boiling water opens these leaves up – the aromatics are vibrant and complex, yet convey all of the tempered characteristics one would expect from 10-15 year old tea. It’s tempered like perfectly smooth chocolate that has zero grit whatsoever, but is still explosively fragrant and complex.
It’s not musky, it’s not stale, and it doesn’t smell like fermented stonefruit – it feels like the compounds which have aged in these leaves are volatile and in their prime, ready to leap up and grab you by the nostrils to pull you in.
The flavors are unreal. It’s the depth and viscosity of that licorice root note that really captivates me. This is a total flavor bomb, even the initial sip is an explosion of sticky-sweet licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra).
The more I drink, the more the flavor profile builds up, increases in its complexity, clings to the throat, sits stubbornly on the palate, and reverberates long into the aftertaste.
The way the flavors layer themselves on the palate and wash away into the long-lasting aftertaste is really special, this is way more sophisticated than any other aged white tea I’ve had.
In my opinion, the price to quality ratio of this makes it a no-brainer. Good luck finding even half the quality for twice the price. If this is in stock and you’re reading this, do yourself a favor and get a bag, this is rare and exceptional.
Really grateful that you have spotted the efforts we have put into maturing this tea. There are a set of routines that we follow to make sure the aging environment for all our teas is optimised not only for hygiene but more importantly also for that difference in how well each different tea can further develop in taste. When a well seasoned connoisseur like yourself can point it out so precisely and in detail, that means we have done the right things.
I cannot claim the credits though. The most important components for delivering such a wonderful profile really have been established by the producer who has been an old style white tea maker confident enough to manage a much longer withering time than what is trendily practiced. A lesser experienced producer could easily spoil a whole harvest when turning the withering pile at the wrong time, at a wrong pace. It has been lucky for me to have met him twenty years ago.
It is also a gift from Nature. An old fashioned white tea like this, whether produced from a new cultivar or an old one, really depends a lot on the year’s weather and the conditions of the harvesting time. While ample rain is critical for healthy growth, the sun is critical for such a meticulously withered batch, especially a few hours and continuously for two days after the plucking.
So you see, this is really a blessing as much as it is the work of all who have laboured to make this tea happen. I have the duty to make sure such a wonderful gift from Nature and honest hard work be perfectly delivered, especially to those who can appreciate, like yourself. I am really grateful to be told that we have done our job well. Thank you.