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	Silver Needle White Tea \| Bai Hao Yinzhen

Silver Needle White Tea - Bai Hao Yinzhen

Bai Hao Yinzhen Introduction

Silver needle white tea (Bai Hao Yinzhen) is one of the rarest and most spectacular teas. It is the only white tea that sometimes was listed among Ten Famous Chinese Teas. The production of this tea makes up less than 0.1% of the total of tea produced in China. The needle shaped white tea is mainly produced in Fujian, China, which is famous for premium white tea. The reason for the name, "Silver Needles", is quite apparent as with one glance at the buds; the delicate white down on the buds is quite striking.

During early spring, each bud is carefully plucked from the Da-bai cultivar (大白茶树 Da-bai cha-shu). White tea differs from green tea as their process does not involve any steaming or pan-firing. To produce Silver Needle White Tea, the tea has to undergo the longtime withering which causes the non-enzymatic oxidation that gives the unique characteristics of white tea. The withered buds are then dried on smoldering fire (文火 Wen-huo). One of the unique processing steps is this tea is packed right after drying while the tea is still warm. This is vital to preserve its needle shape; if it is cooled down, the tea is susceptible to breakage while packing.

When brewed in hot water, the buds stand upwards, and while remaining in the upright position, the water-absorbed buds gradually sink downward to the bottom of glass, which looks like stalactite.


Silver Needle White Tea\| Infusion

The lengend of Bai Hao Yinzhen

A long time ago, legend has it that the people who lived at the Fujian province were experiencing a dry spell which was threatening the lives of the villagers. It was believed that a celestial plant was growing in the Taimu mountain in the Fujian area which was guarded by a black dragon. This plant is believed to be able to cure many kinds of illnesses and it will bring up water when the juice of this plant is dropped into the river. Many villages went looking for this special plant but failed and were magicked into rocks in the mountain. A young lady, whose two brothers also went there but were both dead, decided to risk her life. When she reached the mountain, the black dragon attacked her viciously but she cunningly managed to kill the dragon. The young lady then plucked the celestial plant and dropped its juice onto the people who has been turned into rocks, and all they were transformed back into human beings. Thanks to her courage and effort, the villagers were very grateful. They transferred the plant from the mountain and planted it widely in their villages. Due to its silvery white color and needle shape, it was named "Silver Needle".

During the Song Dynasty (year 1107), white tea was developed using the tea leaves plucked from the specific tea cultivars, and processed according to the way of making green tea. Its unique process is also recorded in the Ming Dynasty tea books. During the Qing Dynasty (1772-1782), the commercial production of white tea emerged. During early 19th century, Zheng-He district (政和) started its mass production of Silver Needles mostly sold to European countries; the production was interrupted during World War I (1918), and resumed after 1926. In year 1855, Fu-Ding district (福鼎) started the cultivation of Fuding Da-bai cultivar (大白茶树 Da-bai cha-shu). It then gave rise to the massive production of Silver Needle at Fuding district thanks to its fleshy bud which was highly appreciated.

Bai Hao Yinzhen Producing Areas

Bai Hao Yinzhen is mostly grown and produced in Fuding and Zhenghe counties of Fujian province. At the growing area, there is a huge temperature difference between the day and night. During the day, there is sufficient sun light and tea leaves vigorously produce plentiful of substances such as amino acid and carbohydrate, which are essential for the production of quality tea. At night, if the temperature is high, the metabolism is continually taking place, and the tea leaves will consume the substances that were produced during the day time. However, at the mountainous area, the lower atmospheric temperature at night caused tea leaves to become less active and therefore those substances remain in the leaves. It contributes to the mellow taste of tea.