Written by our guest blogger the_hunt_for_tea_aotearoa
I am a kiwi, born and bred in New Zealand who has always had a love for beverages and food! After working in marketing for many years - most of those years on coffee and tea brands - I made the leap into a ‘tea brewmaster’ role with a multinational beverage company two years ago. Since then, I have been sourcing commercial quantities of tea from all over the world, developing my sensory skills and completing formal education on tea. On the personal side of things, I have a deep passion for drinking tea, eating all the food and traveling to intrepid places and these things pair so perfectly! I love finding new teas and getting them home to discover all the different sensory experiences they deliver. It is a forever adventure, and hunting teas is something I truly enjoy and will continue to do for the rest of my life.
This tea is called Bukit Sari Silver Needle, it is a white tea from Indonesia. Aromas from the dry leaf are sweet and full of sugary scents of dehydrated mangoes and apricots. A delicate and soft down cloak the leaves and they sparkle tones of silvers and as it brews you get aromas of hay and slight florals. The liquor is light and bright, mellow and fruity with a perfect amount of sweetness.
This is the first time I have tried white tea from Indonesia. It is sublime! Bukit Sari in West Java is an organic tea garden, and these silver needles are their highest-grade tea.
Tea Profile:
Type: White
Origin: West Java, Indonesia
Harvest time: 2020
Leaf colour: Green with white fuzz
Liquor colour: Light yellow
Tea Aroma: Sweet with notes of dehydrated mangoes and apricots
Tea taste: Mellow with fruity sweetness
Steeping/brewing:
Place 4 g of this tea in a porcelain gaiwan and add about 100 ml water at around 85°C.
Rinse after 5 sec.
Steep for 10 seconds for the second time and increase the consecutive steeping time by 10. You can re-steep this tea about six times.