White Tea

Harvested by hand only a few days each spring, white tea is made from the tender, nutrient-rich bud from the tip of the tea plant and is the rarest and least processed of all tea varietals.  Because white tea is virtually unprocessed, a fine silver-white down remains on the leaf. White tea contains some of the highest levels of L-theanine, a rare amino acid that promotes mental and physical relaxation, improves mood, reduces anxiety, boosts the immune system and increases concentration.

White tea brews a pale, golden color and has a subtly sweet, gentle, nectar-like flavor with unique creamy-floral, wood, apricot, and honey notes.  We often recommend white tea to customers who want lots of health benefits but are hesitant about green tea's strong flavors.  With no bitterness and a delicate, smooth flavor that blends wonderfully with other ingredients, white tea is an ideal choice for someone new to the world-of-tea.  Its rare quality and amazing complexity also makes white tea attractive to the seasoned connoisseur.

White teas were rated one of the hottest products on the US tea market and show no signs of slowing down due to the continued media attention highlighting their anti-cancer potential.  White tea is considered to be one of the healthiest tea categories because it contains antioxidants and the highest levels of theanine, a rare amino acid found only in high-quality tea. Antioxidants are believed to maintain health, combat aging and prevent disease.  Theanine promotes mental and physical relaxation, improves mood, reduces anxiety, boosts the immune system and increases concentration.  White tea also has the lowest caffeine content of all true teas by volume (by weight caffeine content is similar).

Because white tea undergoes very little processing (the leaves are simply picked and then gently dried/oxidized through gradual dehydration over a period of thirty to forty hours), the tealeaves retain their natural appearance. For instance, White Peony, one of the most popular styles of authentic white tea and the base for our white tea blends, is multi-colored like autumn leaves and covered with a silver-white down that resembles the skin of a ripened peach.  Silver Needle, the highest grade of white tea, consists of only silvery-white sprouts.

At Octavia Tea, we consider white teas one of our specialties.  Our garden-direct relationships enable us to offer exquisite white teas for some of the best prices in the industry.