Known as Silver Needle tea, Bai Hao Yin Zhen is an exemplary Chinese white tea harvested only in spring time and prized for its unusual composition of only voluptuous tea buds picked in the first flush of spring. This gorgeous tea gets its name from the fuzzy, silver needle-like appearance of the tea buds, the youngest part of the camellia sinensis plant also called tips or needles. The new growth for a new year, these buds are bursting with all the best parts of tea: caffeine, theanine, and polyphenols. 

We often use the word delicate to describe white teas, but we don't mean delicate like fine porcelain - we mean delicate like a ballerina's graceful dancing. High quality Bai Hao Yin Zhen (and other white teas) will dance across your tongue in a variety of complex combinations, from sweet hay and flowers to fruit and vanilla. Our Bai Hao Yin Zhen has a rounded vegetal and fruity infusion. Earthy straw tones quickly bloom into a delightful florality and natural sweetness in this intricate infusion perfect for welcoming spring.

Tasting Notes

Light straw-colored liquor with sweet and vegetal florality.

Origin & Ingredients

  • China

Chinese White Tea Buds (camellia sinensis)

How to Brew

Thanks to the fuzzy coating on the buds meant to protect them from late frosts, Bai Hao Yin Zhen can also withstand higher temperature water than you might think. We recommend playing around with your steeps to decide if you prefer your Silver Needle tea at 195° F for about 1 minute, 185° F for 2-3 minutes, or 175° F for 5-7 minutes! Your Silver Needle leaves may be steeped and enjoyed several times at slightly longer intervals for each subsequent infusion.

What is Tea?

Did you know all tea comes from the same plant?!

Learn what makes green tea different from black tea, why herbal tea isn't really tea at all, and how tea goes from the fields to your cup.

How to Brew Tea

While every palate is slightly different, there are a few basic concepts that will help you brew the perfect pot of tea, every time! Explore our in-depth guide to brewing tea at home to discover everything you need to know about how to brew each of your favorite teas and herbal tisanes.

White bags of loose tea on shelves at Saratoga Tea & Honey Co.

Our passion for teas...

We are delighted to be able to share one of the largest and most varied collections of single origin traditional teas on the East Coast with our communi·tea. Personally curated by owner Hayley, these teas come to us from small farms and collectives and represent the best of their terroirs and production styles. While wondering our shelves in-person or online, you will discover familiar favorites like English Breakfast and Long Jing (Dragonwell) alongside rare teas like Shan Lin Xi and herbal tisanes blended for mindfulness, inflammation, and much more.

wall of monofloral raw honeys at Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. in Saratoga Springs NY

& bees...

Raw honey is one of nature's most marvelous gifts. Not only is honey a marvel of energy-giving carbohydrates fortified with antioxidants, minerals and beneficial enzymes - making it the healthiest natural sugar - honey comes in a rainbow of flavors and varieties with something for everyone to appreciate and enjoy. From dark, robust honeys like Buckwheat and Chestnut to light or amber honeys like Tupelo or Orange Blossom, the subtle and sometimes not so subtle flavor differences between varietal honeys lend themselves to extraordinary flavor combinations and experimentation in the kitchen, on the charcuterie board, or in your favorite cup of tea.

all started with our Queen Bee!

A trained chef, Hayley's vision for Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. has been her entire lifetime in the making. Though she was still drinking espresso at the time, the Tea & Honey seeds were planted in the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants with training and appreciation for food and beverage as not just sustenance, but experience and hospitality. Her time spent as a chef-instructor at Jacques Pépin's French Culinary Institute introduced her first to matcha (and its ability to enhance sustained and steady focus), then to the subtleties of single-origin traditional teas like high mountain Taiwanese oolong. As a celebrated and awarded taster and master of culinary arts, in 2015 Hayley opened the doors to Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. Since then, she has cultivated a communi·tea for discovering rare and exciting teas, extraordinary raw honeys & unique gifts produced by small farmers and artisans from around the world.