Tonight I am trying Yin Zhen or Silver Needle tea. This tea is a white tea and is from Fujian Province in China.

When in Jena, Germany last week I visited the TeeGschwendner shop several times. During my second visit I purchased several bags of tea and the shopkeeper also gave me a sample of the Yin Zhen tea to take home and try.

Yin Shen tea is made from only the leaf shoots of the tea plant and is the most expensive white tea. It is difficult to see in this picture but the shoots are covered with fine silver hairs.

Here I have placed the tea in the infuser of my TrendGlas Jena Teecup while waiting for my kettle to boil and then cool.

White teas are brewed at a lower temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. This converts to about 176 degrees Fahrenheit. I let the kettle boil and then opened the lid and let it cool to the correct temperature.

I then filled my teecup and set the timer for three minutes. I like my teecup as I can watch the brewing process. Since this was the first infusion the leaves mostly floated since they are lighter when they are dry. In subsequent infusions they do not float as high in the cup.

The color of the tea was very light although it did get a little darker as it cooled. The second infusion was a bit darker. It is difficult to see in this picture, but you could also see little hairs floating on the surface of the tea.

The taste of the tea is very delicate. It is recommended that you do not eat anything spicy or strong flavored before trying this tea. There was a very slight floral taste, but also some sweetness and a hint of fresh mown hay. The scent of the tea leaves reminded me of cutting hay when I was young.

I would definitely recommend this tea, but I would probably only buy it in small quantities as it is a bit expensive. The price in the shop in Germany was about 30 dollars for 100 grams.

Soon I will share my thoughts on some of the other teas that I brought back from Germany. Just let me get over the jet lag 🙂

Have you tried Yin Zhen tea?

Steven