What
is White Tea?
White
tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis
that have been processed a certain way. It is the least common
of the four types of teas (white, green,
oolong, and black).
White
teas are the least processed of any tea and therefore taste
the most like fresh leaves or grass. They also have the lowest
amount of caffeine and most likely have the highest antioxidant
properties.
What
is Tea Processing?
Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It
is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall
character are created.
In
its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and
deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation)
should take place before drying them out. Tea leaves have
enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised,
or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to the air resulting in
oxidation.
The
amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are
exposed and for how long.
The
Processing of White Tea:
First of all, white tea starts with just the tightly rolled
buds of the White tea does not go through any oxidation at
all.
In
order to prevent oxidation, white teas are immediately fired
or steamed after letting them wither (air dry) for a period
of time. There is no rolling, breaking, or bruising of any
kind.
The
dried buds have a silver-like appearance because the tiny
white hairs of new growth are still present. This is probably
why the most popular white tea (at least in the US) is called
Silver Needle.
My
Suggestions:
Here
is a quality Chinese white tea from Adagio Teas!
If
you are new to white teas and would like to try a few different
examples, try this white tea sampler.
|
