White Tea
Minimally processed tea from Fujian made by withering and drying young buds and leaves, producing a pale liquor with honey, hay and melon notes.
Definition
White tea (bai cha) is made with two main steps: withering and drying. There is no kill-green and no rolling. The leaves wilt slowly, indoors or in the sun, for 24 to 72 hours, during which a small amount of natural oxidation occurs. They are then dried at low heat. The result keeps the silvery down (bai hao) on the buds that gives the category its name. The classic producing area is northeastern Fujian province, centered on Fuding and Zhenghe counties. Large-bud cultivars such as Fuding Da Bai and Zhenghe Da Bai produce thick, hairy buds suited to white tea. The main grades, from most to least bud-heavy, are Silver Needle (all bud), Bai Mu Dan (bud plus one or two leaves), and Shou Mei and Gong Mei (later, leafier pickings). White tea is also aged. Pressed cakes of Shou Mei and Bai Mu Dan stored for several years develop dried-date, medicinal and woody notes, and Fujian producers sell aged white tea as a distinct product.
In Depth
Brew at 80-90°C (176-194°F). Silver Needle tolerates long steeps: 3-5 g per 250 ml for 3-5 minutes Western style. Leafier grades can take hotter water, and aged white cakes are often brewed near boiling.
White tea is not reliably low in caffeine. Buds contain more caffeine than mature leaves, so a bud-only tea such as Silver Needle can match or exceed some green teas. The pale cup reflects light processing, not caffeine content. Expect roughly 15-50 mg per 240 ml depending on grade and steep.
White teas are also produced in Yunnan (Yue Guang Bai, "Moonlight White"), Darjeeling, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Kenya. These are made with the same wither-and-dry method but use different cultivars and taste different from Fujian white tea. Store loose white tea dry and sealed; unlike green tea, it does not go stale quickly.
See Also
- Fujian Tea
- Aged White Tea
- Tea Processing Categories