White tea is one of Fujian Province’s unique treasure teas. It can be light and floral in the cup or it can be woods-y and slightly reminiscent of the taste of a very light black tea. Either way it is mild and delicious. White tea has been second only to green tea for capturing media attention these last few years for its easy drinking virtues.

Fujian white tea is plucked from five tea bush cultivars that grow in three restricted locations in northern Fujian Province:

• Fuding County
• Jian Yang County
• Zhenghe County

Four main styles of white tea are made, and with the exception of Yin Zhen, each style is made in several grades:

• Yin Zhen: the original white tea consisting only of plump, early-to-mid-spring pluck tea buds
• Bai Mudan: modern-style white tea consisting of varying amounts of bud (from 10% to 50%) blended with whole leaf from the same tea bush cultivars used for Yin Zhen
• Shou Mei: modern-style / leaf only
• Gong Mei: modern-style / leaf only

White tea is allowed to wither naturally in the air outside or inside the tea factory, and then it is either bake-dried or air-dried (not pan or basket-fired) to 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.

While white tea is historically linked to Fujian Province, very good white teas are being made in Yunnan Province, too, from local tea bush cultivars. These white teas are less expensive than their Fujian cousins and offer other choices in the white tea style.

Tea Trekker is proud to present authentic white tea to you in both traditional-style and modern-style, from both Fujian and Yunnan provinces (and Nepal too!).

View our Selection of White Tea:

China Fujian White Tea

China Yunnan White Tea

Nepal White Tea

New Tea, Rested Tea, and Aged Tea