Silver Needle frustration

Fishy, or kelpy as some prefer to call it, is not only a tea trait but one cherished by many (myself included) as strange as it may sound. To help you out a bit better we'd need to know where you bought your Silver Needle and exactly what type/brand it may be. Fishy/kelpy flavors are most often associated with green teas and depending on the quality of the tea you possess it may actually be closer to a green than a white.

Most white tea can stand up to a decent brewing time (2-5 minutes) but there are many inferior ones and some white teabags that after 20-30 seconds become extremely bitter or astringent. Start with offering more info on the specific tea and I'm sure things can be set straight.

- Dominic

I never realised that some teas had a kelpy smell! Not too sure whethe I'll be able to get over that.

Anyway, I bought my tea from Adagio teas (from the website). On the ti it says, "Silver Needle: white tea from China".

And this is what it says on the write up on their website "...produced in the Fuding and Zhenhe districts of its [China's] Fujia province..."

And I bought the loose leaf, not the tea bags if that helps

OK, so it purports to be a canonical white tea, though "Zhenhe" should be "Zhenghe".

On the subject of kelpy smell, it's really not so unusual. You've probably encountered it if you've drunk tea from those cheap Japanese teabags they use in the kind of sushi bars I can afford. But, as Dominic has already made clear, kelpy can be a whole lot better than that. On the other hand, I've drunk a number of white teas without ever encountering that aroma. Maybe what you have is just stale?

/Lew

I absolutely hated that fishy taste/aroma when I first encountered it, then almost a year later I was drinking a tea that had just the tiniest hint of it and it created an instant need to find that super- fishy original tea. Now, years later, I still get cravings and only the fishiest Japanese green will do.

As for the white tea you have there... most likely it is simply inferior or old. While tea vendors like Adagio and Teavana are prevalent and charge a lot, they offer very little for your money. For instance, you could have bought your Silver Needle from

for less than half of the price and I guarantee it would have been better. (I have no connection with them outside of being a very satisfied customer many times over.)

Most likely nothing you are going to do will change what you have. My best suggestion is to just experiment with what you have to see what you can get from it. Try maybe room temperature water brewing at longer times, try a far off boil temp, try super hot, etc. Try it iced, who knows some teas that seem like lost causes can have one or two surprises.

- Dominic