White Tea

White Tea

Østerlandsk 1889 Copenhagen has a large selection of teas from all over the world. Our assortments range from the finest qualities of pure black, green and white theer to the more traditional pure qualities, flavored black, green and white tea, the house's own mixes, red tea, exciting herbs and fruit, Chai mm. Below you can read more about white tea.

Qualities and countries of origin etc.
White tea originally comes from a small limited area in southeastern China, where you find the ideal growth conditions for the development of the white tea. The white teas have their names from different variants of teaplants, just like the special way these teas are harvested, leaving the little silver white downs on the leaves of the bush visibly intact. Today, fine grades of white tea are also produced in India and Sri Lanka from among others the temples of Assam, Darjeeling and Ceylon.

The Chinese white teas come from 3 plant varieties: 'Big White Tea', 'Nacissus White' and 'Vegetable White'. Depending on the quality and type, the color of the leaves as well as the ready-made tea may vary from a light yellow or green color to a dark brown color.

White the is the first spicy shot on the bush and a delicacy, harvested only for a few days in the early spring. The leaves are not picked on days of rain if the dew is not completely gone or if there is frost in the soil. White tea differs from both green and black tea in the process that follows the actual picking of the tealeaves. The fresh tealeaves undergo a natural drying process. The white tea is like the green tea unfermented, which means that the leaves do not undergo the oxygenation process which causes the color of the leaves to darken. Unlike other teas, the leaves are rarely rolled. Thus, the characteristics of most grades are that they are very large-leafed.

The big difference between white and green is the way it is produced. To make white tea, the tea pickers pick the button and two leaves together and divide them into four different qualities that make up the 3 types of white teas; Bai Hao Yin Shen (Silver Needle), Bai Mu Dan (White Peony), Shou Mei and Gong Mei.

Unlike the production of green teas subjected to relatively high temperatures to remove the moisture content of the teas, white tea is dried naturally by using the sun's rays or by a lower-temperature drying process that takes place indoors, which helps ensuring that the polyphenol content of the tea is preserved. The preferred method is to dry the white tea in the sun, which accelerates the drying process. However, there is not always enough sun for this method to be used. It takes about 40 hours to dry the white tea at low temperatures indoors. After the tea has been dried in uncovered open sheds, it is placed in rows on bamboo inside rooms heated to about 40 degrees. The rooms are well ventilated to remove moisture content.

In China, white tea is used to reduce body temperature and to counteract fluid accumulation. White tea is also said to be stimulant to the intestinal tract and also help to inhibit cancer. These infant teashots contain many vitamins, minerals and antioxidants like green tea, and must not be brewed with hot boiling water. It is recommended that the water is between 60-80 degrees. White tea is often very light in the color and the taste is compared to the black tea, soft and very delicate.