White tea

White tea
White Bai Hao Yinzhen tea leaves
Chinese	白茶
Literal meaning	White tea
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin báichá IPA [pǎɪʈʂʰǎ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization baahk-chàh Jyutping baak6-caa4 IPA [pak̚˨.tsʰa˩] Southern Min Tâi-lô pe̍eh-têe

White tea may refer to one of several styles of tea which generally feature young or minimally processed leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.^[1]

Currently there is no generally accepted definition of white tea and very little international agreement on how it can be defined. Some sources use the term to refer tea that is merely dried with no additional processing.^[2] Therefore, white tea is very close to the natural state of the tea plant. Other sources use the term to refer to tea made from the buds and immature tea leaves picked shortly before the buds have fully opened and allowed to wither and dry under the sun,^{[citation needed]} while others include tea buds and very young leaves which have been steamed or fired before drying.^[3] Most definitions agree, however, that white tea is not rolled or oxidized,^{[citation needed]} resulting in a flavor characterized as "lighter" than most green or traditional black teas.

In spite of its name, brewed white tea is pale yellow. Its name derives from the fine silvery-white hairs on the unopened buds of the tea plant, which give the plant a whitish appearance. The unopened buds are used for some types of white tea.

It is harvested primarily in China, mostly in the Fujian province,^[4] but more recently produced in Taiwan, Eastern Nepal, Thailand, Galle (Southern Sri Lanka) and northeast India.