An amazingly delicate and subtle tea, white teas are truly inside a class by itself. Read on to discover more about its history and usage over the years.
White teas are the term employed to describe uncured and unfermented tea leaves. Just like the green, oolong and black tea varieties, white tea comes from the camellia sinensis plant. White tea is typically subjected to an easy drying process, unlike green tea-which is roasted in the oven or pan while being tuned constantly to ensure even curing-and Oolong and black teas, which can be afflicted by fermentation before curing.
White tea contains mostly the buds and young leaves with the plant, which have considerably ‘abnormal’ amounts of caffeine than older leaves. It is because of this that white teas are viewed to have much less caffeine content than green teas.
White tea is grown in numerous places all over the world nowadays, yet it’s a particular specialty of Fujian province in China. There are numerous of sorts of tea cultivators in your community, probably the most popular ones being Da Bai (Large White), Xiao Bai (Small White), Narcissus and Chaicha. White teas can actually be classified into several unique grades, depending on the different standards of picking and selection procedures that are used.
It is stated it particularly hard times in China, poor people would serve their guests boiled water as opposed to tea. This is tagged by the host along with their guests as “white tea” and they’d work as when the custom of serving tea on the guests have been performed as was usual. This gave rise to the utilisation of the term “white boiled water” in reference to plain boiled water in the country.
Many of the more established Chinese white teas are listed below.
Bai Hao Yinzhen or Silver needle. The best grade of Bai Hao Yinzhen tea is seen as an fleshy, bright colored leaves which can be engrossed in tiny white hairs. The design must be quite uniform, without having discernible stems or leaves. The finest kinds of Yinzhen are generally picked from between March 15 and April 10, if you have no rain that can otherwise damage the unopened buds. Bai Hao Yinzhen arises from Fujian Province in China.
Bai Mu Dan or White Peony. This tea is a measure down from Bai Hao Yinzhen tea regarding grading, and incorporates the bud and a couple leaves which might be engrossed in a fine, silvery-white down. This tea also arises from Fujian Province, China.
Gong Mei or Tribute Eyebrow. This is actually the third grade of white tea available, and uses leaves harvested through the Xiao Bai or “small white” tea trees.
Shou Mei or Noble, Longevity Eyebrow. This is a fruity, furry white tea that is certainly a unique melange of tips and upper leaf. It has a somewhat stronger flavor than other white tea s, having a striking being similar to Oolong tea. Oahu is the fourth grade of white tea available which is plucked later in the harvest season than Bai Mu Dan, which ends up in its somewhat darker color. This tea comes from the Fujian and Guangxi Provinces in China.
Other white teas:
Ceylon White. This can be a highly prized tea that’s grown primarily in Sri Lanka. Ceylon White tea typically commands higher market prices than black tea that is also produced in the area. This tea has a distinctive light flavor with subtle hints of pine and honey, and exhibits a coppery gold color.
Check out about thewhitetea.org you can check this web portal.