What is White Tea?
If you love tea and want a variety that tastes delicate and smooth, but tea that has medicinal properties, you should try Chinese white teas. This type of Chinese tea is not the number one tea consumed in China but the people know about the many benefits. Currently, chefs and even doctors have come to understand why white tea is so wonderful.
Interestingly, in China, Chinese white teas are rare but also a type of tea highly exported. For many years, this type of tea has been considered one of the best for healing properties and delicate flavor throughout China but now, it is becoming popular all over the world. While the Chinese people have known about benefits of Chinese white tea for hundreds of years, today, doctors, top chefs, and everyday people are also enjoying the same incredible benefits.
Okay, so what is Chinese white tea from China? Sometimes, this variety is considered as a sub-class of tea under green tea. When processed, it is only partially hydrated using the white hair that comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. Typically, this Chinese herbal tea is harvested in the spring when climates are cool, during the time when the protective scales on branch tips begin to shed from the plant, revealing a unique fuzzy white “hair” on the buds.
Special Processing of White Tea
To preserve integrity, these buds must be carefully plucked and the processing is unique. The key to making the finest white tea is by avoiding oxidization of any kind of the buds, as well as the first unfurling leaves. Then, immediately after the buds have been picked off the plant, they go through a drying process in the sun although some Chinese will place them in a ventilated area, allowing the buds to dry under extremely low heat.
Now, when looking at loose black tea or oolong tea, Chinese white tea goes through a cellular oxidization process, which promotes the wonderful fragrance, delicate flavor, and even smooth color. Typically, Chinese tea is processed without this step being involved. Once complete, you end up with an amazing tea that is fresh and light.
Different White Tea Classifications
Along with other types of Chinese herbal tea, white tea is also broken down into different classifications. For instance, you would find white peony, silver tip, and others, although these two are among the best known and most popular. Some of the other possibilities include the following.
• Silver Tip – This type of exotic tea is made in the Fujian Province, specifically the Fuding and Zhenghe areas. Of all white tea varieties, this is rated as one of the best. To process silver tip tea, individual buds are plucked from the plant when mature and almost ready to open. Covered in silver colored hair, the tea produces an amazing flavor and aroma. In fact, this type of Chinese white tea is often referred to as a “white cloud, green-like dream, pure as snow, and aromatic like the orchid”. Each bud stands in the cup when being infused, similar to a bamboo shoot.
• White Peony – Also called Pai Mu Dan, this variety of Chinese white tea comes from buds, but also leaves that are left once the silver tip has been removed. The flavor is mild and sweet but with a rich, full body. The color of this herbal tea is lighter than most white teas but the aroma is heavier. Because of the similar flavor and aroma, this is often compared to silver tip tea.
• Gong Mei – Rated as the number three choice among Chinese white tea, leaves from a Small White tea tree or Xiao Bai tree are used to create the unique and wonderful flavor and aroma.
• Shou Mei – For a fruity flavor, this is a wonderful choice that uses both the tips and leaves. Many Chinese people state the flavor is the strongest of all Chinese white tea varieties, actually more like the flavor of oolong tea. For this grade, the tips and leaves are not plucked until later in the springtime, which produces a dark color.
As you can see, Chinese white tea comes in many different options and now, people all over the world, especially in the United States have discovered it. In fact, of all Chinese foods and beverages, white tea has quickly become one of the most popular choices.
