Breaking it Down: Types of Tea, Part 1 – White Tea
Part 1: White Tea
Greetings Tea Lovers and Students of the Way of Tea.
The other day one of my young apprentices asked me the difference between white tea and black tea. It stunned me, the Tea Master Amanzi, for it seemed so elementary, and yet my student did not know! As he was escorted from the grounds for his ignorance, it occurred to me that perhaps there are others like him out there.
There are many types of tea. Like my young tea student, you might be confused. Words like “oolong” and “rooibos” mean little to you while words like “herbal” and “white” seem too vague. So I shall nudge you down your path to enlightenment by telling you more about the Basic Types of Tea.
In general, tea may be broken down into seven basic groups—white, green, oolong, black, rooibos, mate, and herbal tea. The first four are brewed from the camellia sinensis plant—the way they are processed is what makes them different. The other three are actually brewed from other types of plants. For a the next few posts, I shall therefore briefly explain and describe a bit about each type of tea. I hope you will allow me to enlighten you.
Let us first start with the Master Amanzi’s personal favorite: White Tea.
White Tea is made from young tea leaves and buds of the tea bush, which though it is called a bush, can grow up to sixteen feet high. The leaves and buds are picked very early, before they’ve fully bloomed. They are dried, but they are not cured or fermented like the other, darker types of tea.
White tea has a light, sweet flavor and is much lower in caffeine than the others. It’s not as common as the other kinds and a bit more expensive. The health benefits of white tea include its anti-bacterial and antiviral properties. It also is said to have an anti-aging effect and relieves stress. White tea also has a very high level of antioxidants (about fifteen times as much as Green Tea).
Soon I shall tell you about green tea.
Please continue to pay attention, and I will show you the way to true Tea Happiness. Perhaps you and my once-ignorant student will soon be back on the Path to the Perfect Cup of Tea.
Learn More about the Other Types of Tea:
Green Tea
Oolong Tea
Black Tea
Rooibos Tea
Yerba Mate Tea
Herbal Tea
Tags: intro, tea info, tea leaves, white tea
