Jing Gu White Pekoe Silver Needles White Tea

This lot of Jing Gu White Pekoe Silver Needled White Tea is dated “Spring 2022” and I received it June 1st of that year. I wasn’t impressed with it then, and today — almost 3 yr later — I am still unimpressed. Lots from several other years are listed here separately, and the notes recorded by others seem to be hit and miss. I found the dry leaf to smell of alfalfa hay. My first session used 2.5g leaf in 8 oz boiling spring water, oversteeped for 5 minutes. That was half my usual amount of leaf for western brewing, but the leaf was very bulky (long, hairy needles, as pictured) and I was hesitant. The pale tea was watery, with faint notes of malt, grass and astringency. Weakly sweet despite a nice thick mouthfeel. Resteeping was not too different. A second session was more to my usual process, with 5g leaf and a first 8 oz steeping of 30s, to result in a light blond infusion from the light-hued, olive-green leaves. The flavors were much the same, but less astringent, with weak stonefruit apparent. A resteeping of several minutes produced a golden broth with a grassy aroma, but a more substantial flavor, with malt, hay, and notes of chestnut, akin to a long jing (dragonwell) type tea. This infusion was the best of the bunch, with a nice aftertaste, but just not worth the fuss and price. I’d rather sip on true dragonwell. I’ll only rate this as a 55-point experience, and suggest you sip something else. [For example, EITHER the http://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/103292-jinggu-sun-dried-silver-needles-white-pu-erh-tea-cake-spring-2022 , OR the http://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/93180-2019-jinggu-yang-ta-camellia-taliensis-white-tea-cake , both of which looks to be made of identical-appearing C. taliensis material, but which were far better tasting, IMO.]