Wednesday, October 14, 2009

White Tea

I am asked about white tea more often than any other tea variety. While it has become popular in the United States its popularity is still small compared to black and green tea. The first export of White Peony to Europe wasn't until 1922. While white tea is a relatively new product to us it has a long history in China- it is traced back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It is so revered in China that during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD)they developed the "9 Forbidden Rules" for harvesting white tea (the rules are still used today).

No plucking is permitted when:
- Raining
- Early morning when the dew is too wet
- Buds too thin (premature)
- Purple buds (post-mature)
- Buds damaged by wind, insects or human-mishandling
- Opened mature buds
- Hollow buds
- De-shaped buds
- Buds with more than two leaves

An interesting fact for all of the Silver Needles lovers is that it takes more than 3,000 buds to make up 1 pound of tea.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, it is very interesting! Thank you for the information!

Susie said...

You have convinced me to try it. What is the difference between white peony and silver needles?

Anonymous said...

Yes, this is what makes white tea so pure and...virginal. --Teaternity