Silver Tips White Teas: Discover the Exotic Tea

When you think about teas, what may come into your mind is green leaves processed into Black, Green, or White tea – but that is not the case with Silver Tips Tea.

Best known for its long and velvety silvery buds, Silver Tips tea is silvery-whitish in color. Unlike other teas which are mostly made from tea leaves, in the making of Silver Tips tea, Single-origin unopened tea buds are handpicked and processed into the highest-grade Tea. These early-harvested tea buds are still covered by fine white silverish hairs, which is why this highest-grade tea is called Silver Tips tea. In this blog, we will dive deep into Silver Tips tea and learn its processing, benefits, and brewing methods.

What is a silver tips tea?

Silver Tips Tea is one of the highest-grade white teas that is made from the Camellia Sinensis plant, which is also used to make all true teas black teas, and green teas.

After a long winter dormancy in the Himalayan tea mountains, as soon as the spring starts, the tea plants start producing buds having a pointed needle look to them, which are the newest unopened tiniest leaves. 

These are the most tender and most prized parts of the tea plant. In the first two weeks of this budding season in the spring, farmers/ tea workers rush in and harvest them ASAP and dry them out into white tea. This tea known as Silver Tips tea is entirely made only from the unopened tender tea buds packed with an uncommon nutrient-packed flavor profile due to the stress it had to go through preceding the winter laying dormant and surviving. This tea is one of the rarest of the Himalayan mountain teas because only so much can be harvested every season.

These tea buds are called silver tips or silver needles because they are covered with a tender white-silverish hairy layer on the underside giving it a white furry-fuzzy look.

Taste Profile of Himalayan Silver Tips Tea

The tips are the sweetest and nuttiest part of the shoot. Silver-tip tea produces a gently sweet flavor with pine, honey, and orchid notes. Silver tips tea very subtly sweetens the drink by itself which is why this exquisite tea is usually consumed without sugar, honey, or milk. The unique flavor comes mainly due to the unique harvesting and manufacturing process of silver-tip tea.

Flavor: Silvertip has a refreshing and delicate flavor with pine, honey, and orchid notes.
Color: The color of its brew varies from ivory to golden pale. You may also find some silvery-white downy hairs in it, which result in the tea shimmering in the light.
Aroma: The high-quality silver tips give a special honey aroma with a smooth, sweet, and floral taste.
Caffeine content: Due to its delicate handling and minimal processing this tea contains minimal amount of caffeine, with estimates often ranging from 15 to 30 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce serving.

How is silver tips tea processed?

Silver Tips tea is harvested in the misty tea mountains of Nepal. Producing silver-tip tea is a three-step process- Plucking, Withering/Drying, and Sorting. Let’s discuss the manufacturing process of Silver Tips tea in detail.

Plucking

Harvesting is the first step in the processing of silver Tips tea where local artisans hand-pick the perfect buds from the tea shoot in the early morning to protect the quality. This type of harvesting is called imperial plucking. Only slightly curved tea buds covered with silver hair are plucked and sent for processing. It takes a comparatively longer time to harvest such tender buds than other ordinary teas.

Withering/ Drying

The plucked tea then makes its way to factories where they are spread out for solar withering to draw the moisture to the surface. The solar withering process is done to prevent oxidation and maintain the flavor of silver-tip tea. Once the leaves become flaccid and soft, they are further dried rapidly in the drying machine or left in the sun to dry out completely. 

Sorting

Once the rolling process is done, the dried buds are then sorted from the hand. In this process, unwanted particles like matured leaves and stem parts are removed from the tea. There you go. The high-quality silver-tip tea is now ready to brew.

Health Benefits of Silver Tips Tea

Silver-tip tea has tons of health benefits thanks to its high antioxidants. Below are the top 5 health benefits of Silver Tips tea.

Immunity Booster

Silver needle tea has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties to kill free radicals which are responsible for chronic inflammation and weak immunity. As it contains a high level of Polyphenols, this unique beverage can boost your immune system build up the defense against bacteria, and prevent respiratory illnesses. Also, silver tips are highly consumed by people who are health conscious and involved in mediation.

Promotes Weight Loss

Caffeine and catechins like epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) are contained in silver tips tea and these two work together to boost metabolism and burn body fat. So, regular consumption of Silver Tips tea aids in weight loss.

Aids Digestion

Silver-tip tea contains key elements to detoxify the digestive system. It is the perfect aid for improving digestion and relieving stomach acidity, especially when you feel stomach cramps or nausea. Tea can also help you with indigestion and heartburn.

Healthy Heart

Silver-tip tea promotes heart health: it lowers bad cholesterol levels and strengthens blood vessels. The antioxidants found in it prevent blood clots that are responsible for heart attacks and protect heart tissues from potential damage.

Prevents Diabetes

Silver Tips tea is rich in polyphenols that can lower the risk of insulin resistance and improve blood sugar control. Researchers have found that drinking silver-tip tea regularly lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes.

How to brew silver tips tea?

There are many ways to brew Silver Tips white tea but the following three methods are the most popular ones.

Milder-Soothing

1. Get 8 oz filtered water and heat it until it boils.
2. Remove it from the stove and let it cool down to 80C-90C or 180F-190F. It may take about 2 minutes.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of silver-tip tea to a cup.
4. Pour the water into the glass containing the tea buds.
5. Watch how beautifully the buds sink to the bottom one by one after a few minutes.
6. Let it steep for 10 minutes.
7. The color turns faint golden. Enjoy every sip of it.

Mild-Calming

1. Get 8 oz filtered water and boil it.
2. Add about 1.5 teaspoons of silver-tip tea into a cup.
3. Pour the boiling water into the cup containing tea buds.
4. Let it steep for 12 minutes.
5. Watch how beautifully the buds sink to the bottom one by one after a few minutes.
6. The color turns bright golden. Enjoy every sip of it.

Robust-Refreshing

1. Get 10 oz of filtered water and bring it to a boil.
2. Drop 1.5 teaspoons of silver needle tea into the boiling water and let it boil for 2 mins.
3. Turn off the stove, and let it sit and steep for.
4. You get the most unique flavor-packed robust white tea.
5. The color is Rusty rose gold. Enjoy every sip of it

The amount of Silver Tips tea produced in the Himalayas of Nepal is quite low, which makes it a rare commodity.

As it is cultivated at high altitudes, this Himalayan mountain tea produces a soft, subtle flavor with sweet notes. You can now access this rare Nepalese tea in the United States. Danfe Tea provides you with all types of tea from Nepal, including silver-tip tea.

Buy the Finest Loose-Leaf Teas from the Himalayas 

Danfe Tea brings you the finest loose-leaf teas in the Himalayas. With robust flavors and many health benefits, we invite you to try our high-quality black teas. These teas are available in 2.5-3.5 oz or 1 lb variants. We also offer monthly subscriptions to these products.