Why We Love White Teas

About White Tea

White tea is one of the finest teas. Originally named for the fine silvery-white hairs covering the leaf bud as it develops, white tea is regarded as one of the rarest and most prized teas made from the Camelia Sinensis plant. The same plant produces green and black tea. It is the unique and most careful harvesting and drying process that makes white tea a favourite among tea lovers worldwide. 

 

How White Tea is Made

All the white teas are created from a spring-time hand harvest, and only the youngest leaves and silvery buds are selected to create a sweet, dewy flavour. The tea leaves are picked, gently laid out to wither, and expertly dried. This simplicity, however, takes great skill and subtlety from the tea master to create a truly balanced and nuanced tea. 

White tea isn't really white, but the leaves are often nuanced with fresh green and silver tones. The brewed tea has a subtle creamy yellow colour, and the 'white' actually refers to the fine silvery-white 'fluff' found mainly on the underside of the tea plant's youngest buds.

 

Why We Love White Tea

We love white tea because of its delicious, refreshingly sweet flavour and because it can be brewed several times. Of course, each infusion requires different brewing times, but if the water temperature is around 70 degrees and is timed just right with a tea timer, you will experience one of the loveliest teas available. 

White tea contains the least caffeine, going through the same process as green tea, but without being scalded. The very young leaves are steamed to activate the flavour and aroma. The general rule is that the more process the tea leaves go through, the more caffeine the tea will contain. So, because white tea is the least processed, it will naturally hold the least amount of caffeine. Another 'rule' is that the hotter the water required – remember that black teas are brewed at 100 degrees, green teas at around 80 degrees and white teas at approximately 70 degrees – the tougher the brewing process, the more caffeinated the tea will be.

 

Benefits of White Tea

All teas contain antioxidants, which help fight free radicals and support the immune system, yet white tea is the most powerful. Because it goes through minimal interference in its production, it loses the least amount of its beneficial properties. White tea is the purest tea you can drink, and it's full of polyphenols which act as antioxidants inside the body that fight against free radicals. Some experts suggest that white tea can help to reverse skin damage caused by diet, stress and sun. In addition, scientists are discovering that white tea can help to reduce the risk of heart disease, reduce bad cholesterol, aid weight loss and benefit oral hygiene.

 

How to Taste White Tea

White tea is light, delicate and subtle. It has a sweet, almost honeyed taste and aroma. It has other nuances, such as grassy, floral, fruity, or herby. 

If you want to enjoy white tea, try to spot the key tea tasting features - appearance, aroma, flavour, and mouth feel. What does the cup look like? Is it creamy yellow or with a hint of green? What scents are permeating? Are they floral or grassy? What flavours are you experiencing? Are they herby or sweet? And finally, what does the tea feel like in the mouth? Like wine or chocolate, mouth-feel can create a sensational tea drinking experience. So ask yourself, is the sip smooth and round or slightly drying? We may be a little nerdy when it comes to tea, but if you can pick up on any of the tea features, we are convinced that you will love white tea as much as we do. 

 

 

Our Favourite White Teas

 

Organic White Jasmine Loose-Leaf Tea

 

 

Our organic White Jasmine loose-leaf tea is delicate and flowery with jasmine notes. It is a sweet and fresh tea produced by the Longkou tea garden in China, which has succeeded in creating an extraordinary creation. 

The carefully dried, silvery-green tea leaves are refined with fresh jasmine blossoms. After drying, they are sorted by hand so that the harmonious balance of the tea remains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic Silver Yunnan Loose-Leaf Tea

 

 

Our organic Silver Yunnan loose-leaf tea is a full-bodied white tea with soft fruity notes and a delicate flowery finish. Silver Yunnan has large, bright and silvery leaves, and only two leaves and the bud are picked to develop a full flavoured taste with a soft yet fruity touch and lovely flowery finish.

Produced in the Chinese province of Yunnan, the tea is only harvested in spring and, therefore, is one of the rarest white teas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic Pai Mu Tan Loose-Leaf Tea

 

 

Our favourite organic loose-leaf White Tea is Pai Mu Tan, also known as White Peony White Tea. The classic White Tea is delightfully fragrant, flowery and aromatic. It is hand-crafted after spring harvest, and only the youngest buds with two fresh tea leaves are picked. And through the process, the leaves curl around the bud with the soft silvery undersides creating the impression of fluff. Organic Pai Mu Tan (White Peony) is a superior delicate, aromatic tea that is precisely what you would expect from white tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Mango Dream Loose-Leaf Tea

 

 

Our White Mango Dream loose-leaf tea is an elegantly flavoured white tea with notes of ripe mango and a hint of citrus. This tea is carefully picked, processed, and blended for a delicately mild, sweet-ish fruity taste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic White Yunnan Moonlight Dongzhai Loose-Leaf Tea

 

 

Our White Yunnan is a first-grade White Tea. 'Dongzhai' refers to the unusual look of this outstanding tea. The impressive dark leaves are reminiscent of a night's sky, while the light velvety texture of the leaf reflects the moon. The leaves are predominantly large, and the buds show an abundance of fluffy, silvery-white 'pekoe'. This exquisite organic Chinese white tea is grown in Dongzhai, situated amongst the Wuliang mountains at an altitude of 1500m. The White Tea offers lovely floral notes with hints of cocoa. It is soft on the palate with a fragrant, sweet and aromatic finish. The unique taste has delicate fruity notes and offers a golden yellow cup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic Cui Min White Tips Loose-Leaf Tea

 

 

Our organic Cui Min White Tips tea is an excellent White Tea with slightly sweet natural berry notes.

Picked by hand during March and April, Cui Min tea is produced only using the first fresh buds and the youngest unopened leaves. The careful processing by hand results in an outstanding White Tea with lightly tart berry notes and elegant, sweet nuances to finish.

The brewed tea appears bright, clear and with a light-yellow colour in the cup.

Posted by cup of tea admin
22nd August 2022

Back to news