White tea is produced from the Camellia sinensis plant, which is the same plant that all the main teas: green, black and Oolong tea come from. The main difference is in the harvesting, processing and benefits of white tea. The origin of white tea is not known yet but the majority of the arguments point out to Fujian Province in China. Nowadays the Fujian Province produces the biggest part of white tea you see on the supermarket shelves. The first noted use of the tea is during the time of Tang Dynasty, even then there were many different opinions about white tea. During those times white tea was extremely rare, making it expensive so it was only enjoyed just by the rich ones.
What makes white tea so different is the time of harvesting it? The leaves are plucked when they are still young and immature. The leaves have white hairs on the unopened buds that give the whitish appearance to the dryed tea. The brewed tea itself changes into pale yellow. It originally has a delicate, sweet flavor. Because of the very short processing time of white tea it keeps a high amount of antioxidants, but it is really important to know how to make white tea in a right way.
Tha bigest benefits of White Tea is that it contains a group of polyphenol antioxidants that are responsible for many health benefits. They are proved to help in fighting off cancer, atherosclerosis, heart failure, etc. These antioxidants also strengthen the immune system and protect against certain pathogenic bacteria.
Comparing it to the other types of tea, White tea contain the least amount of caffeine. This is because the young leaves have not been able to mature and short brewing process doesn’t allow the caffeine to be pulled out of the leaf.
White tea is an affordable luxury that is good for the soul and the body that should be enjoyed every morning. There are many opinions about white tea, but everyone should try it before judging.