Chinese Organic White Tea
For this reason alone, ensure you are purchasing 100% organic white tea. The tea regions of China are well known for producing high quality teas, and white tea comes from the same plant, camellia senisis, that produces black and green tea. What makes it different is the age of the leaf when harvested and the processing of the tea.
Chinese organic white tea is usually hand picked and the small immature tea leaves still have white hairs on them, hence the name white tea. The hairs drop from the tea leave as it matures. Green and Black teas are produced from mature tea leaves.
The immature tender and small leaves that are processed into white tea are usually the first flush of the season. Only the new closed buds and leaves are plucked in the 48 hours or less from time of sprouting. It can take 2-3 times as many leaves & buds to make the same amount of white tea as it does black or green tea. So, the harvest of the white tea is very labour intensive and this drives the price of tea. Adding to the cost of labour to produce the tea is the limited time window to obtain the leaves prior to them maturing. So in affect there is limited product available, and it takes more leaves to produce the same amount of other teas. White Tea is becoming known for having as much as 10 times the antioxidants and nutrients that are beneficial in green tea. This is due to the age of the leaf, being young, it is jam packed with antioxidants and nutrients that the leaf actually needs to mature. Chinese white tea, and all white teas for that matter have less caffeine than green tea, so a great option for those watching their caffeine intake. The leaves are barley processed, just dried in their natural state. Not rolled or processed any further, allowing for optimum nutrient retention. When brewed, white tea is yellowish in colour and has a very mild flavour. As with all teas, elevation grown, region grown and time of harvest all impact the quality of the tea. Original White tea growing areas have been the Fuding and Zhenghe counties of Fujian, China. These areas are native to at least three distinct plant varietals of camellia sinensis for making white teas - the 'Da Bai Fa Cha' (big white hair), 'Xiao Bai Fa Cha' ( small white hair) and 'Shui Xian' (water fairy). Some tea merchants may argue that White teas can only be defined if they originate from these areas.
|
