White Tea
White Tea is fast gaining recognition as a superior tea which can provide an
alternative to those who enjoy the taste and health benefits of Green Tea. Although,
until recently, White Tea was little heard of by the average tea drinker it is
now a much sought after tea in it's own right. As an alternative to green it
does offer a tea of superior quality, equal to that of most Green Teas and in
some cases even exceeding it. However, it is also considered one of the
rarest and highly prized of all teas ensuring it comes with a very healthy price
tag. White, Oolong and Green Tea are all produced from the
same Camellia Sinensis plant, but that's just about where the similarity ends as
they are all processed completely differently after being harvested. White Tea can
boast of being the least processed of all teas and is only very briefly
steamed to inactivate the enzymes in the leaf that would otherwise start the
fermentation process. With such minimal tampering it comes as no surprise
that White Tea is a veritable treasure trove of goodness, and it retains all
the health benefits that are also associated with Green Teas. Rarity Of
White TeaWhite Tea is quite a rare commodity due to the fact it can
only be harvested on certain days of the year. Those days are very few and far
between and are early in the season when there's an abundance of new buds
on the bushes. The new buds remain unopened and are covered in a fine
down of silvery-white hairs. At a White Tea harvest a large amount of these
silvery buds are collected along with leaves and it gives the entire harvest
an unmistakable white tinge. Another factor that influences White Tea's
rarity is the fact it isn't commercially harvested in great abundance. White
Tea is almost exclusively the reserve of tea gardens in the Fujian Province of
China. There are, however, a few scattered areas of Japan and some small pockets
in the Darjeeling region of India that produce White Tea, but not enough to
threaten the scarcity of this tea. ProcessingThe processing of
White Tea in all of these small producing areas remains very much the same. The
freshly harvested leaves and silvery buds are quickly steamed and dried, after
which there is absolutely no further processing to the leaves. Consequently,
this allows White Tea to retain nearly all of its Polyphenols and other
health giving compounds. In fact, it does contain all the major constituents
commonly found in Green Tea along with very high levels of
Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which studies have shown to be
a potent antioxidant. Furthermore, White Tea appears to be a more powerful
defender against the Salmonella Bacterium than Green Tea, inhibiting and disrupting
its progression to good effect. In a test, China White Tea was compared to Dragonwell
Special Grade Green Tea and found to be significantly more effective in hindering the Salmonella
Bacterium For people who drink Green Tea specifically for the health
benefits, it's not unusual to hear them speak of it being too grassy for their
palates. If this is the case then White Tea can be a subtle, sweet-tasting
and delightful alternative with the same (maybe more) benefits to health. For
the caffeine conscious, White Tea remains very low in caffeine as the lack of
fermentation keeps it to an absolute minimum. With their aura of
exclusivity White Teas are often named with inspiring names befitting to their
rare charm. Some of the more popular White Teas are; White Pekoe, Silver Needles, White Peony,
Golden Moon, White Cloud and Chinese Snow Dragon.
|
