Second only to green tea in terms of recent media attention, white tea is the most misunderstood of China’s teas. White tea is one of Fujian Province’s unique treasure teas, and very simply put, what makes white tea ‘white tea’ is a combination of factors that cannot be duplicated anywhere else on earth.

That being said, there are two different styles of white tea manufactured in China – the traditional, budset-only tea that is the white tea of historic legend, and the new, modern-style white teas which consist of leaf tea combined with varying amounts of bud (from 10% to almost half). In either case, authentic Fujian white tea can only be plucked from specific cultivars of tea bushes that have been cultivated from the indigenous tea bushes found in three restricted locations in northern Fujian Province.

White tea is allowed to wither naturally in the air outside or inside the tea factory, and then it is bake-dried (not pan or basket-fired) to completely dry and stabilize the leaf. White tea is slightly oxidized (due to the natural withering phase) but it is not de-enzymed as green tea is. So in many ways white tea has more in common with black tea than it does with green tea.

Tea Trekker is proud to offer authentic white tea to you in both traditional style and modern style. When we occasionally offer an interesting white tea from a different province in China or a country other than China, we state this plainly.