White Tea

About

White Tea Famous for its silver-colored leaves and liquid, white tea is a kind of special rarity in Chinese tea. With pekoe on its tender leaves, the boiled tea is covered with silver-colored pekoe, always looking like wearing "white clothes". White tea is slightly fermented in a degree of 10%. The two key procedures in tea-making are withering and drying, which keeps its special pekoe, fresh taste and also the natural vitamins that are beneficial to peopled health. This is produced on a very limited scale in China (originally in Fujian Province) and Sri Lanka. The new buds are plucked before they open, are withered to allow the natural moisture to evaporate, and then dried. The curled-up buds have a silvery appearance (and are sometimes referred to as Silver Tip) and give a very pale, straw-colored liquor. Renowned for their delicate aroma and their refreshing properties, white teas are a specialty of Fujian Province, which is divided into three main regions: Fuding, Zhenghe and Jianyang. Now, however; several estates in Darjeeling are producing white teas, and this trend seems to be spreading to other countries. Traditionally produced from precious harvests that last only a very short time (about two weeks) in the spring, white teas were once reserved exclusively for emperors and other high-ranking officials. These teas are the most minimally processed of all. White teas are usually divided into two types: those made only from downy buds (such as Yin Zhen and silver needles) and those made from a mixture of buds and leaves (such as Bai Mu Dan and Shou Mei).They are processed in two main stages, withering and sorting. PLACE OF ORIGIN Mainly in Fuding, Zhenghe and Songxi in Fujian Province WITHERING During the withering stage the leaves are simply spread out over bamboo racks. Depending on outside conditions, the leaves will be left to air-dry on the racks for 12 to 24 hours. To speed up the drying process, fans of different intensities are sometimes used to increas