White tea

All teas begin as the same tea plant and then are processed to become the particular type or flavor of tea that is desired. White teas are the least processed of the tea varieties.

For most of the gourmet white teas the leaves are still picked by hand first. Mostly the buds of the tea plant are used to make white tea, and they are picked before they are allowed to open. They are then dried. This lack of extra processing steps makes a very light or pale colored cup of tea.

When it comes to preparing white tea for drinking make sure that the water is only brought to the pre-boil stage at around 180 degrees or the tea will most most likely taste very bitter. Use two teaspoons of tea per desired cup as a general rule, and steep the tea for seven minutes.

It's best to use 100% spring water for making white teas, as most tap waters tend to be very poor and will often result in making a high quality and flavorful tea taste very ordinary and even bitter at times.

There are some great resources on the internet for white tea, and we have provided links to each website for your convenience below.

Recommended White Tea Resources

Adagio Teas - Very large selection of gourmets teas. The most visited tea website on the web. They even have a tea community with a tea newsletter and chat rooms. Free shipping available.
Spice Of Life Teas - They have several of the world's top brands of teas that come from the most exclusive tea growing areas in the world. A wide selection of flavors too. They also carry a great line of Chai.
Peet's Coffee & Tea - Peet's is well-known for their coffees but their teas are also very unique and there are more than 45 hand selected and blended teas available, all with very distinctive flavors. They have a great online Tea Selector too.