A hot cup of tea is an instant energizer and this beverage that was introduced to us by the Britishers in 1800, is now a quintessential part of life.

Do you now that the tea plantation was first done in the gardens of Darjeeling to beat the monopoly enjoyed by the Chinese, many decades back. Voila! Today India is the second-largest producer of tea in the world, churning out whopping 900,000 tons annually. While aromatic adrak chai (ginger tea) is like our identity of sorts, we Indians, are not averse to other varieties.

There are innumerable varieties of tea flooding the market and they are graded depending on the colour, flavour and texture. Besides black, green, white, purple, yellow, dark, herbal tea, oolong tea, chamomile tea, Pu-erh tea, jasmine tea, there are thousands of teas in the world.

Among the plethora of options, one of the popular ones is white tea. Like regular green tea, white tea comes from camellia sinensis plant but from the younger lot of leaves. This shrub grows natively across Asia and parts of India in Golokpur (Tripura) and Assam, however, a certain variety of tea plants grown in Fujian province of China produces leaves acceptable as the most authentic white tea. 

There are ample reasons to adore this tea variety that grows on the shrub with soft needle-like leaves.

White Tea Versus Green Tea

While green tea shares many of white tea’s properties but with green tea, the oxidation process is cut short through pan-firing and rolling the leaves. While both possess ample health benefits, white tea is rarer and less processed. Handled with utmost delicacy, unlike green tea, white tea undergoes just two processes: withering and drying. Certain harvesting conditions (before the fresh buds unfurl fully), and minimal processing for tender tea leaves to retain their white colour plays a major role in giving the tea its name thus revealing the reason for its glossy texture and mild sweet vegetal flavour.

Also Read: Green Tea: Is There A Perfect Time To Drink This Healthy Beverage?

Types Of White Tea

Well known types of white tea are Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yinzhen), White Peony (Bai Mu Dan), Tribute Eyebrow (Gong Mei), Long Life Eyebrow (Shou Mei).

Foray Through This Infographic For 5 Astonishing Wellness Benefits of White Tea