TeaVivre's Silver Needle White Tea, or Baihao YinZhen as it is called in China, is the highest grade of White Tea. It consists only of the top unopened tea leaf buds, and doesn't contain any opened leaves. Amazingly, one kilogram of this tea typically contains approximately 120,000 buds. When you look at our high quality Silver Needle White Tea, you will see how it gets it's name – the bud is covered in a down-like covering of fine white hairs, and so the bud looks like a white needle.
When brewed, we at TeaVivre have carefully selected our Organic Silver Needle tea to make sure it has a pale golden yellow color and subtle flowery fragrance – characteristics of the premium Silver Needle teas. The taste of TeaVivre's Organic Silver Needle is delicate, without any bitterness or strong flavour. This year because the temperature of Spring is relative higher than last year so that the tea grow quickly. This made the picking work so hurry that there may be some small leaves around the buds. And the quantity is also limited this year.
Brief Health Info
Silver Needle White Tea gives you the greatest health benefits of all White Tea's. Composed of only unopened, fresh leaf buds, none of the beneficial antioxidants and minerals in this tea have yet had a chance to used by the plant to convert to chlorophyll or other parts of an opened leaf's structure. As a result TeaVivre's Silver Needle tea has the highest quantity of beneficial ingredients.
For more information on the remarkable health benefits of TeaVivre's White Teas, see our article on General Health Benefits of Tea.
Where is this Silver Needle White Tea Produced
TeaVivre's Silver Needle White Tea is from Mt. Taimu in Fujian province, on the south eastern Chinese coast.
This tropical mountainous coastal area is perfect for growing White Tea. It has abundant rainfall and temperatures that are neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winter. The mountains around the farms are more than 80% forested, ensuring the soil has a high natural fertility and organic content, removing the need to use fertilizers.
Organic Certification
The particular Organic Silver Needle tea that TeaVivre is selling, is guaranteed to be organically grown and produced, independently verified to meet the following certifications:
USA
Certified Organic in accordance with the USDA (National Organic Program) accreditation for organic farms, production and produce. USDA certificate number is A-2007-00252_1 / 2012-03715.
Europe
Certified organic in accordance with both EU regulations Article 29(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007. Certificate number is A-2007-00252_1 / 2010-03563.
Japan
Certified organic in compliance with the JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standards) regulations for organic agricultural products. Certificate number is A-2007-00252_1 / 2012-03738.
Their certifications have been independently verified by BCS Öko-Garantie GmbH - the organic certifier.
The Company also obtained ISO9001 quality and process management certification in 2003.
About Tea Tree
Materials for making Bai Hao Yin Zhen are from finite tree species which should have stout and strong buds and distinct pekoes, such as Fu Ding da bai cha, Fu Ding da hao cha. They are mainly planted in Fuding and Zhenghe in Fujian Province.
The species in Fuding is Fu Ding Da Hao, “Da hao” for short. It is asexual propagation, belonging to semi-tree form. In 1985 it was certificated as national variety in the number GS13002-1985. Its plant could reach up to 2.8 meters high, and has obvious trunk.
Spring tea, which contains 1.8% of amino acid and 28.2% of tea polyphonels, is the material of high quality for making Silver Needle White Tea and White Peony Tea.
About Tea Farmer
Lin Jian, who was born in Fuding, Fujian, has been living under the environment of teas. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather are all tea farmers. When he was in elementary school, he helped to pick the tea after school at the tea picking time when there’s not enough people to pick the tea. The dream of engaging in tea business was came up at that time. He said: “My original idea is to make a good life for my family by tea business. But from 1993 when my tea business was gradually developed, I changed my mind. Fuding is the best place of planning white tea. So I want to create a long-term Organic Tea business.” Through our contact with Mr Lin, we felt that he is a man of frankness, speaking quickly, walking quickly and working quickly.
Not exaggeratedly speaking, now Lin Jian is the first founder of Chinese white tea. He owns near 2800 acre high quality tea gardens in Fuding including 500 acre organic tea garden which is the only organic tea garden in Fujian that has passed the USA, Europe and Japan organic certification. He also owns 200 acre Jasmine tea garden in Guangxi. Meanwhile his heshan organic tea base was regards as the national agricultural standard base.
In 2008, his Silver Needle White Tea won the gold medal at the annual Chinese White Tea festival in Beijing.
History of Silver Needle White Tea
White Tea is the earliest form of Chinese tea. When the Chinese first discovered tea, they soon found out that sun-drying or baking the leaves ensured that the tea could be easily stored and used at a later time. These steps, of course, formed the basis of the withering and drying processes that are still used to this date.
White Tea originally was grown in the area around the city of Fuding, in Fujian province. It later spread to the areas around the cities of Shuiji, then Zhenghe. The first type of White Tea produced was Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen), in the area around Taimu Mountain near Fuding.
Originally Silver Needle was made from the buds of the Xiao Bai form of the tea bush. This form of the tea bush is smaller and slower growing, and so Silver Needle was expensive and rare. However around 1857 farmers around the town of Shuiji began using the DaBai form of the tea bush. This has larger buds, and – more importantly – produces better quality tea, with more white hairs on the buds, more fragrance and a stronger taste. From that time on, White Tea has been made using the DaBai tea bush.
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