Heat in the dog days.

For a suitable Tea for summer,

White Tea is still the first choice.

So, do you know about white tea?

White tea has always been a rather unique presence among the six major types of Chinese teas.

Compared to the other five major categories,

White tea can be considered the minimalist in Chinese teas.

The simplest and most natural to make with the least number of processes.

Though the process of making white tea is simple,

its content is very rich.

2 Traditional Processing Techniques

Sun Drying

Airing

The most important step in making white tea is withering, which can be divided into sun withering and indoor withering, essentially sun drying and airing.

These two traditional techniques have clear regional characteristics. For example, the sun-drying tradition is mainly represented by Fuding, while the airing tradition is mainly represented by Jianyang and Zhenghe.

Sun drying or airing are both processing methods with the same principle. Both focus on natural finishing without stir-frying or kneading, with low-temperature withering and drying to preserve the active enzymes in the tea leaves, causing the fresh leaf components to decompose and transform, ultimately producing a fruity or floral fragrance and a fresh, sweet taste.

3 Categories

Categorized based on the tree species used in production:

Small White Tea (Xiao Bai)

Large White Tea (Da Bai)

Narcissus White Tea (Shuixian Bai)

Small White Tea refers to white tea made from the raw materials of the vegetable tea variety, named in contrast to Large White Tea varieties. The grades of Small White Tea primarily include Tribute Eyebrow (Gong Mei) and Longevity Eyebrow (Shou Mei). Tribute Eyebrow is a bud and leaf tea, while Longevity Eyebrow is a stem and leaf tea.

Large White Tea is a clone cultivar bred from the vegetable tea variety. It has relatively tall plants with fat buds and large, spread-out leaves, and high yields. The main grades of Large White Tea include Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen), White Peony (Bai Mudan), and Longevity Eyebrow.

Narcissus White Tea was born in the Xiaohu Town of Jianyang at the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, made from the Fujian North Narcissus tree variety, and is also the origin of the White Peony grade. Narcissus White Tea is the latest to emerge among the three traditional categories of white tea. The grades produced include Silver Needle, White Peony, and Longevity Eyebrow.

4 Grades

White tea is divided into four grades based on the picking time and the shape of the fresh leaves:

Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen)

White Peony (Bai Mudan)

Tribute Eyebrow (Gong Mei)

Longevity Eyebrow (Shou Mei)

Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen)

Made from the single buds of the Large White Tea or Narcissus tea tree varieties. Covered in white down, it has long strips, is as white as silver, and shaped like a needle, hence the name Silver Needle.

『Characteristics』: Fresh aroma, light yellow infusion, fresh and refreshing taste. Since Silver Needle is picked when the temperature is low, it has a high amino acid content, making its freshness the highest.

White Peony (Bai Mudan)

Made from the one bud and one or two leaves of the Large White Tea or Narcissus tea tree varieties. When steeped in a cup, it looks like an open peony flower, showing a white color, thus called White Peony.

『Characteristics』: High floral fragrance, apricot yellow or orange-yellow infusion, fresh and mellow taste. White Peony retains the fresh and refreshing characteristics of Silver Needle but also has a specific aroma.

Tribute Eyebrow (Gong Mei)

Made from the tender shoots of the vegetable tea tree variety, with smaller down and fine leaves.

『Characteristics』: Light orange-yellow infusion, mellow, sweet, and long-lasting.

Longevity Eyebrow (Shou Mei)

Made from the tender shoots or leaves of the Large White Tea, Narcissus, or vegetable tea tree varieties. The leaves are larger, and there are some stems; it is usually picked at the end of April.

『Characteristics』: Pure aroma, orange-yellow infusion, fresh and pure taste. Although there are more leaves and tea stems,

fully fermented Longevity Eyebrow often has a better taste than White Peony or even Silver Needle, with flavors and aromas transitioning from lotus leaf to jujube and then medicinal.

6 Core Tree Varieties

The six core tree varieties distributed over a wide area:

Vegetable Tea (Cai Cha)

Fuding Large White Tea (Fuding Da Bai)

Fuding Large Downy Tea (Fuding Da Hao)

Zhenghe Large White Tea (Zhenghe Da Bai)

Narcissus (Shuixian)

Fuan Large White Tea (Fuan Da Bai)

Vegetable tea is found across multiple Fujian tea-producing areas such as Jianyang, Zhenghe, Fuding (including local native teas), Wuyishan, Fuan, and many others outside Fujian, such as Jiangxi.

Fuding Large White Tea and Fuding Large Downy Tea are the core categories in Fuding, and they are also widely cultivated in other production areas.

Zhenghe Large White Tea is the core representative category of the Zhenghe production area, but its output is not high even locally.

Narcissus tea, also known as Wuyi Narcissus, was recognized as a national superior variety by the National Crop Variety Approval Committee in 1985. Narcissus is planted in both southern and northern Fujian, primarily in Jian'ou, Jianyang, Wuyishan, Yongchun, Zhangping, and other places.

In the northern Fujian region, the most widely grown white tea category is actually Fuan Large White Tea (also known as Gaoling Large White Tea), which originated in Fuan.

Do you know any other facts about white tea?

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