White Tea Over The Years

 

It was more than 5000 years ago when the Chinese emperor Shen Nung discovered tea. This is according to Chinese legend, which described the emperor's displeasure with the taste of the water during his journeys. The emperor ordered the water boiled when a single tea leaf blew into his cup. He then drank the resulting brew and the glorious pursuit of tea drinking was born.

 

The white tea variant became particularly favored during the Song Dynasty from 960 to 1279. It was then that white tea was the drink of choice in the royal court, and was typically offered as tribute to the emperor. The tea leaves and buds were ground into a light colored powder, which was then mixed in bowls during what was known as the Song Tea ceremony. The ceremony in turn inspired the Japanese tea ceremony.

 

More than one emperor during the Song Dynasty was particularly enamored of white tea. Hui Zong, who reigned from 1101 to 1125, was in fact so obsessed with the quest for the perfect tea, that he lost large portions of his empire as a result. In the next several centuries, powdered white tea gradually fell out of favor with most of the Empire moving over to loose-leaf tea. It could take a few centuries before plants were specifically developed for the purpose of brewing white tea.

 

Despite the popularity of white tea at this point, it was still mostly unknown outside China and the rest of Asia. In fact, it was only fairly recently that these and other fine teas and began to achieve widespread popularity over the rest of the world for their many health benefits. Today, white tea is favored in many countries for its distinctive taste and aroma.

 

What makes white tea so distinctive is the processing, or more accurately, its lack of processing. Of all the teas available in the market today, white tea undergoes the least processing. It is made from the silvery buds of the Camellia sinensis plant, which are steamed and dried. Since it is processed only very minimally, white tea retains a lot more nutrients than black or green tea. This, along with its distinctive taste and aroma, ensures white tea's position in the pantheon of the finest teas in the world. Simply put, if you want to experience the finest flavors that the tea world has to offer, there is no better choice than white tea.