White tea has caught the wide attention of tea lovers, nutritionists, and scientists. The various studies indicating that white teas are rich in anti-oxidants, anti-viral and anti-bacterial benefits, are leading more and more people to consume white tea. Along with the improving demand for services, more brands and even tea producing countries are actually offering white tea. Yet it’s important to understand that you will find great variants quality one of many brands that offer white tea products. Just how can a consumer distinguish the product quality and value from the white tea that they are buying? Bill Lee, tea master of China Flair Tea Company and founder of the Institute of Masters of Tea Arts, explains the best way to distinguish the standard of white tea by its most important aspect–taste.

Varieties of White Tea

White tea is a class of tea manufactured in many regions of China, Taiwan and countries for example India and Nepal. White tea gets its name in the beautiful silvery white down that covers the young leaf buds. However, to get classified as a white tea it must also be processed according to the orthodox white tea method. For this reason silvery young leaf buds can also be found in other tea categories including green teas and black teas, but they’re not classified as a white tea.

Essentially the most traditional and prized white tea arises from Zhenghe and Fuding counties in China’s southeastern province of Fujian. Traditional white teas from China are broken into several grades, each using a different name. Each grade represents the volume of young leaf buds which are included and if the lower leaves within the bud are incorporated. White teas with additional silver leaf buds are often considered a finer grade. Listed below are the standard grades of white tea by name:

o Bai Hao Yin Zhen (White Downy Silver Needles, or simply Silver Needles) – made entirely of young silver leaf buds

o Bai Mu Dan (White Peony) – is made up of the young silver leaf bud and also the two lower leaves

o Shou Mei (Longevity Brows) otherwise known as Gong Mei (Tribute Brows) – almost entirely made up of mature leaves, with few silver buds.

Names Silver Needles, White Peony, and Shou Mei represent grades of white tea, however these names specifically indicate the perception of white tea, rather than the particular quality of white tea. Each name only indicates the percentage of young silver buds and mature leaves which might be incorporated to produce that type of tea. Styles of white tea with increased silver leaf buds and fewer mature leaves will create a lighter flavour plus a more delicate character. Incorporating more mature leaves will produce a warmer and nuttier style.

The key reason why these styles are termed as grades is really because producing white tea with more silver leaf buds requires higher costs. White teas like Silver Needles, which can be comprised of 100% silver leaf buds, therefore are higher priced and thought of a greater grade.

And so the issue of quality isn’t regarding the grade that people choose, but the actual tea we buy within that exact grade. We may decide to drink a White Peony because we enjoy that type of white tea, but we ought to distinguish its quality by comparing it to White Peony teas. Many brands now provide a white tea called White Peony, but the quality of White Peony offered by brand X is just not necessarily the identical quality as brand Y. Factors that determine its quality like the period of harvest, age the trees, their environment, as well as the proper processing of the foliage is not indicated by its name.

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