Hand-picked in China's Fujian province, this one is plucked to a specific standard: two leaves and a bud, gathered by hand rather than machine. Like every tea, it comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, and the difference between white, green, oolong and black lies entirely in what happens after picking. Here, the leaf withers and is allowed to oxidise for only a brief spell, shorter than any other style, including green tea. That light touch is what keeps the dry leaf silvery-green and gives the brewed liquor a pale yellow colour rather than the deeper tones of more processed teas.
In the cup it's delicate and grassy, with a faint coffee-like edge underneath, and an aroma pronounced enough to carry across a room before you even take a sip. Caffeine stays low too: typically 15-20mg per 8oz cup, against roughly 30mg for green tea, 45mg for oolong and 50mg for black. That makes it a sensible pick for anyone cutting back on caffeine, including pregnant drinkers keeping an eye on their daily total.
Tea & Coffee packs this one fresh to order, as it does with its other white teas, rather than holding pre-packed stock on shelves for an unknown length of time.
To brew it, use water at 75-80C and steep for up to three minutes, long enough to draw flavour from the leaf without scorching it. It needs no milk, sweetener or other accompaniment; taste it plain to catch the grass and that underlying coffee note. Because oxidation is kept so brief, white teas of this kind are often said to hold onto more antioxidants than darker, more processed teas, including higher levels of EGCG than green tea, though that is background detail rather than a reason on its own to reach for a cup.
