White tea

White tea
White Bai Hao Yinzhen tea leaves
Chinese白茶
Literal meaningWhite tea
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinbáichá
IPA[pǎɪʈʂʰǎ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationbaahk-chàh
Jyutpingbaak6-caa4
IPA[pak̚˨.tsʰa˩]
Southern Min
Tâi-lôpe̍eh-têe
The visible white hairs are a unique characteristic of the Bai Hao Yinzhen tea

White tea may refer to one of several styles of tea which generally feature young or minimally processed leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.[1]

Currently there is no generally accepted definition of white tea and very little international agreement on how it can be defined. Some sources use the term to refer tea that is merely dried with no additional processing.[2] Therefore, white tea is very close to the natural state of the tea plant. Other sources use the term to refer to tea made from the buds and immature tea leaves picked shortly before the buds have fully opened and allowed to wither and dry under the sun,[citation needed] while others include tea buds and very young leaves which have been steamed or fired before drying.[3] Most definitions agree, however, that white tea is not rolled or oxidized,[citation needed] resulting in a flavor characterized as "lighter" than most green or traditional black teas.

In spite of its name, brewed white tea is pale yellow. Its name derives from the fine silvery-white hairs on the unopened buds of the tea plant, which give the plant a whitish appearance. The unopened buds are used for some types of white tea.

It is harvested primarily in China, mostly in the Fujian province,[4] but more recently produced in Taiwan, Eastern Nepal, Thailand, Galle (Southern Sri Lanka) and northeast India.

  1. ^ "White Tea - A Comprehensive Guide". Dip Tea. Open Publishing. 30 April 2012.
  2. ^ Y. Hilal and U. Engelhardt (2007). "Characterisation of white tea – Comparison to green and black tea" (PDF). www.tu-braunschweig.de. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Tea". oregonstate.edu. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  4. ^ Chow, Kit Boey; Kramer, Ione (1990). All the Tea in China. San Francisco: China Books. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-8351-2194-1.