Processing & Other

White tea is tea made from new growth buds and young leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis. The leaves are steamed or fired to inactivate oxidation, and then dried. more...

Home
Bags, Cases & Straps
Binoculars & Telescopes
Camcorder Accessories
Camcorders
Digital Camera Accessories
Digital Cameras
Film
35MM
APS
Medium, Large Format
Polaroid & Instant Print
Processing & Other
Film Camera Accessories
Film Cameras
Film Processing & Darkroom
Flashes & Accessories
Lenses & Filters
Lighting & Studio Equipment
Manuals, Guides & Books
Photo Albums & Archive Items
Printers, Scanners &...
Professional Video Equipment
Projection Equipment
Stock Photography & Footage
Tripods, Monopods
Vintage
Wholesale Lots

White tea therefore retains the high concentrations of catechins which are present in fresh tea leaves. As white teas contain buds and leaves, whereas other teas are mainly leaves, the dried tea doesn’t look green and has a pale appearance. Buds and young tea leaves have been found to contain higher levels of caffeine than older leaves, suggesting that the caffeine content of some white teas may be slightly higher than that of green teas.

White tea is a specialty of the Chinese province Fujian. The leaves come from a number of varieties of tea cultivars. The most popular are Da Bai (Large White), Xiao Bai (Small White), Narcissus and Chaicha bushes. According to the different standards of picking and selecting, white teas can be classified into a number of grades, further described in the varieties section.

History

See also: Tea: Origin and history

In hard times, very poor Chinese people would serve guests boiled water if they could not afford tea. Host and guest would refer to the water as "white tea" and act as if the tradition of serving guests tea had been carried out as usual. This usage is related to plain boiled water being called "white boiled water" in Chinese.

Varieties of white tea

Chinese white teas

Bai Hao Yinzhen (Silver needle): The highest grade of the Bai Hao Yinzhen should be fleshy, bright colored and covered with tiny white hairs. The shape should be very uniform, with no stems or leaves. The very best Yinzhen are picked between March 15 and April 10 when it is not raining and only using undamaged and unopened buds. Fujian Province, China.; Bai Mu Dan (White Peony): A grade down from Bai Hao Yinzhen tea, incorporating the bud and two leaves which should be covered with a fine, silvery-white down. From Fujian Province, China. (Sometimes spelled Pai Mu Tan.); Gong Mei (Tribute Eyebrow): The third grade of white tea, the production uses leaves from the Xiao Bai or "small white" tea trees.; Shou Mei (Noble, Long Life Eyebrow): A fruity furry white tea that is a chaotic mix of tips and upper leaf, it has a stronger flavor than other white teas, similar to Oolong. It is the fourth grade of White tea and is plucked later than Bai Mu Dan hence the tea may be darker in color. From Fujian Province and Guangxi Province in China;

Read more at Wikipedia.org