White tea
While gathering raw material for this tea the
special attention is paid to selection of leaves. Usually only the
youngest and not yet dismissed leaves of the first crop are gathered.
Such leaves are still hidden under the short white hair of the opened
tea-buds. For elite white teas one gathers only top leaf or top
leaf plus one more, that follows the top one. The process of manufacturing
of the overwhelming majority of grades of white tea consists only
of two steps:
1. The first step – short-time (1 minute) processing of leaves
by steam to stop the process of fermentation, though some grades
of white tea may sometimes even be slightly fermented under the
influence of a smoke.
2. The second step – drying in ovens.
When the tea is ready, there must not be any braided leaves in
it. It looks like scattered dry leaves. No withered, broken, braided
and oxidized (black or dark) leaves must be there. In general, the
color of the leaves must be former (green or grey). White color
of a bottom of leaves should be clearly visible.
After being made, white tea has pale yellow or chartreuse color
and slightly grass aroma. For brewing it is necessary to use soft
and not very hot water (50-70 C), because it has special concentration
of the essential oils, which give sophisticated aroma to it. If
water is too hot, it will muffle all those marvelous smells.
The time of making is very short – 5 minutes and not a minute
any more. For example, the tea “Silver Needle” is being
made for 4 minutes, the temperature of water must be about 60-70
C. When the tea is ready, it has pale yellow color, flower aroma
and sweet taste.
White tea is widely spread only in China and is considered to be
one of the best and most expensive teas. Simple people, who do not
earn much money, can’t allow buying such kind of a tea. Chinese
have an ironic proverb, something like “He drinks white tea”.
That means one has great difficulties with money and drinks simple
hot water.
It should be mentioned, that it is not easy to keep and transport
the white tea. It is caused by the absence of fermentation, that’s
why it is very exacting to the conditions. Among all other grades
of tea, white tea has the strongest aroma and healing power.
There are two popular grades of white tea in China: Pai-Mu-Tan (or
Bai-Mudan) and Bai-Hao Inchzhen (Silver Needle).
Silver Needle grows on the North of the province Fujian. This grade
is known from the 12-th century.
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