Guide To Tea
About The Benefits Of White Tea
The earliest recorded instance of white tea being produced dates back as far as the Tang Dynasty of China (618-907 A.D.). Yet, for centuries, its benefits remained unknown to the world outside China. Only when it started being exported in 1891 did the world come to of it. Made from new growth buds and leaves of the Camellia sinensis, white tea has been proclaimed to be the culmination of all that is elegant by emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of China (960-1279 A.D.).
During the Tang Dynasty, tea preparation was quite different from what it is today. Tea leaves were compressed into cakes and then made by boiling pieces of these cakes in kettles. The white tea was plucked in early spring when the new leaves of the tea bushes, resembling silver needles, were plentiful. It was these leaves that were the raw material for the tea cakes.
It was during the Song Dynasty that the white tea evolved. A powdered form was produced to replace the loose-leaf style which was in favor till then. The leaves were picked, steamed, dried and then ground into a fine powder before finally being kept in bowls. This was done in quick succession which helped preserve the color and freshness. The beverage resulting from this fine powder had an iridescent white appearance and was supposedly a very rejuvenating drink.
The combination of the color of the drink and its supposed benefits made it highly regarded in the royal society. Emperor Huizong (1100-1126 A.D.) of the Song Dynasty has been credited with the development of white tea such as ‘Palace Jade Sprout’ and ‘Silver Silk Water Sprout’.
Producing white tea then, as it is even today, was extremely labor-intensive. Leaves and buds had to be plucked from a select variety of bushes in early spring. They were steamed immediately and then carefully the outer unopened leaf had to be stripped of from the buds. Only the delicate interior was rinsed with spring water and dried. Hence, the white tea had leaves which were small and paper thin. The finished tea was then distributed, often as a tribute to the Song royalty in loose form. Here, it was ground to a fine, silvery-white powder and immediately put in wide ceramic bowls that were used in the Song tea ceremony. The white tea, so produced, was also used in tea competitions of that era.
The white tea which was once available in the compressed form was now available only in the powdered from. There would be further transition in its production in 1391, when the Ming court proclaimed that only loose tea would be accepted as tribute. Soon after this, most white tea was found in full leaf, loose form in earthenware vessels.
The modern white tea has been traced to the Qing Dynasty in 1796. Tea, then was processed and distributed as loose tea, and produced from ‘chaicha’, a mixed-variety tea bush. White tea leaves were shaped, and it was not undergo de-enzyming by pan-firing or steaming, unlike other Chinese green tea. The silver needle white teas were small, thin and with very little silvery-white hair.
In 1885, a specific variety of tea bushes were selected to make ‘Silver Needle’ and other white tea. The buds of the ‘Narcissus’, ‘Small White’ and ‘Big White’ tea bushes were used to make white tea, and they are used till date as a raw material in the production of white tea. The export of the Silver Needle started in 1891 and the White Peony in 1922. Today, white tea is classified as Noble, Long Life Eyebrow (Shou Mei), Tribute Eyebrow (Gongmei), White Peony (Bai Mu Dan), and Silver Needle (Yin Zhen Bai Hao). All of these are available in America. The highest grades of these are the Silver Needle and the White Peony, a must for every tea connoisseur.
About the Author
Henry Wershar writes about the roots, history and culture of Tea read more about Tea, Diet Tea and Herbal Tea at Tea One Site http://teaonesite.com
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