Pai Mu Tan and White Teas

White Teas

Prestigious tea gardens across the globe are now preparing their short white tea harvest. The enigmatic tea is only produced at this time, meaning the short harvest window is abuzz with activity. But why is white tea such a prized, luxury tea? Let's find out!

What is White Tea?

Originally named for the very fine silvery-white hairs covering the leaf bud as it develops, White Tea is regarded as one of the rarest and most prized of all teas. It is the least and most carefully processed of all the teas and picked in spring, where only the youngest leaves and silvery buds are selected to create a sweet, dewy flavour. The tea leaves are picked, gently laid out to wither and then expertly dried. This simplicity, however, takes great skill and subtlety from the tea master to create a truly balanced and nuanced tea. The most prized and celebrated White Teas are Silver Needle Organic and White Peony, not only for the rareness and subtle flavours but also for their health benefits.

White Tea

How is White Tea Made?

The key to white tea production is a patiently slow yet minimal withering and drying stages, which allows for a hint of oxidisation, preserving flavour and form of the tea leaves.

White tea undergoes fewer steps than any other tea, including Green, Oolong and Black teas. The freshly plucked buds or buds and leaves are briefly withered, during which very light oxidation naturally occurs that turns them grey-green or grey-brown.

The leaves are moved directly to the drying step, which is done gently and under carefully controlled conditions either naturally (by air or sun) or mechanically (by a hot air machine).

Benefits of White Tea

All teas contain antioxidants, which help fight free radicals and support the immune system, yet white tea is the most powerful. Because it goes through minimal interference in its production, it loses the least amount of its beneficial properties. White tea is the purest teas you can drink, and it's full of polyphenols which act as antioxidants inside the body that fight against free radicals. It has been linked to, and some experts suggest that white tea can help to reverse skin damage caused by diet, stress and sun. Scientists are discovering that white tea can help to reduce the risk of heart disease, reduce bad cholesterol, aid weight loss and benefit oral hygiene.

Is White Tea Really White?

White tea isn't really white at all. It has a subtle creamy yellow tone when brewed. We believe that 'white' actually refers to the fine silvery-white 'fluff' found mainly on the underside of the tea plant's youngest buds.

White Tea Flavour

White Tea is light, delicate and subtle and is the perfect introduction to the world of fine Chinese teas. It has a sweet, almost honeyed taste and aroma that is subtly fresh and enticing. White Tea has other nuances, such as grassy, floral, fruity, or herby, attributed to how and when the leaves were picked. Our organic Pai Mu Tan, also known as White Peony, is of the highest quality and has a sweet aroma of freshness and light spice with a bright, golden-yellow cup. Our customers love it; just read the reviews.

Here are our favourite white teas that we are convinced will wow tea enthusiasts everywhere!

Pai Mu Tan Organic Tea

Our favourite organic loose-leaf White Tea is Pai Mu Tan, also known as White Peony White Tea. The classic White Tea is delightfully fragrant, flowery and aromatic. It is hand-crafted after spring harvest, and only the youngest buds with two fresh tea leaves are picked, and through the process, the leaves curl around the bud with the soft silvery undersides creating the impression of fluff. Organic Pai Mu Tan (White Peony) is a superior tea that is delicate and aromatic and precisely what you would expect from a white tea.

Our customers say, "Exceptional taste and quality peony tea. Perfect flavour, colour and very smooth. It makes you want another cup just after you have finished the first it's so good!!"

White Yunnan Moonlight Dongzhai Organic Tea

Our White Yunnan is a first-grade White Tea. 'Dongzhai' refers to the unusual look of this outstanding tea. The impressive dark leaves are reminiscent of a night's sky, while the light velvety texture of the leaf reflects the moon. The leaves are predominantly large, and the buds show an abundance of fluffy, silvery-white 'pekoe'. This exquisite organic Chinese white tea is grown in Dongzhai, situated amongst the Wuliang mountains at an altitude of 1500m. The White Tea offers lovely floral notes with hints of cocoa. It is soft on the palate with a fragrant, sweet and aromatic finish. The unique taste has delicate fruity notes and offers a golden yellow cup.

Our customers say, "I've bought this several times for my dad, and he insists that it's the best white tea around!"

White Snow Dragon Organic Tea

Our White Snow Dragon is a marvellous White Tea with a light and pleasantly sparkling, fresh taste. Certified organic, this Chinese White Tea offers a golden yellow cup.

Production of this tea is quite exceptional because the fresh leaves are not processed like White Tea but more like Green Tea. That means withering, steaming, rolling, firing and cooling until the Tea reaches the correct level of residual moisture. The final careful and gentle hand rolling in a heated wok-type pan gives the Tea its beautiful appearance.

Our customers say, "My favourite of your white teas. This tea has a rounded, slightly malty with the slightest suggestion of tannin in the aftertaste. Beautiful."

Silver Needle Organic Tea

Our Silver Needle is an exceptionally high-quality Chinese White Tea with gentle, stunning floral notes. The leaves are twisted and shaped into long silvery needles by hand, and Yin Zhen literally translates to Silver Needle. Our organic Silver Needle is carefully produced using only the freshest unopened buds of the Pai Hao tea plant. This White Tea is harvested in just two spring days of the year, and to produce 1kg of finished Silver Needle tea, you need 30,000 fresh unopened buds.

The unique climate gives the White Tea a blossom-like fragrance, an almost sweet flavour that gives an extraordinary drinking experience and a light-green cup.

Our customers say, "I have been drinking this tea for some time now and have never been disappointed. It has become a regular feature in my tea drawer. Full of interesting flavours and aroma."

Cui Min White Tips

Our Cui Min White Tips tea is an excellent White Tea with slightly sweet natural berry notes.

Picked by hand during March and April, Cui Min tea is produced only using the first fresh buds and the youngest unopened leaves. The careful processing by hand results in an outstanding White Tea with lightly tart berry notes and elegant, sweet nuances to finish.

The brewed tea appears bright, clear and with a light-yellow colour in the cup.

White Mango Dream

Our White Mango Dream loose-leaf tea is an elegantly flavoured White Tea with notes of ripe mango and a hint of citrus. This Tea is carefully picked and processed and blended for a delicately mild sweet-ish fruity taste.

Our customers say, "This tea is delicious. It's a really good quality white tea with a hint of mango - I have it at work and drink it all day. Lovely!"

Discover all of our favourite white teas here - https://www.cupoftea.co.uk/buy-tea-online/buy-white-tea-online/c6

How to Brew the Perfect White Tea

White Tea will be much more flavoursome if the leaves are brewed with filtered water at around 80c. The delicate character of White Tea can easily be lost if the leaves are infused with water that is too hot.

Because of the fluffy, airy nature of modern white teas, a large heaped teaspoon of leaves per cup should be used. White Tea is also suitable for repeat infusing up to three times. The first infusion should be the shortest of around 90 seconds and extend up to 2-3 minutes for the final steeping.