Brewing White Teas

Video Transcript

In this clip we're going to talk about white tea, how best to prepare it and a little bit about the details of white tea. Let me get the white tea going first. We're using a silver needle which comes from the Fujian province of China. The key thing when brewing white tea is you want to make sure that your water is below the boiling point. In this case we're using water at about a hundred and seventy five degrees. Now while that's steeping let's talk a little bit about white tea. White tea traditionally comes from the Fujian province in China. It was traditionally picked very ceremoniously and only the best parts of the tea plant were picked. That's what you see here. The silver tips, which are the new growth, of the tea plant. You can also make white tea from other parts of the tea plant though it's considered of lower quality. You can also find white tea coming from other parts of the world. That too, is considered less priced than the tea from the Fujian province. There are legends of course that even the finest white tea was picked by virgins in white robes and that tea was presented to the Emperor in it's most pure form. However, when you see white tea in a bottle on an end cap at your local mega mart you can be pretty sure that it wasn't picked by virgins in white robes. Anyways, while this tea steeps let's talk a little bit about the characteristics of white tea. It tends to be very mild in the cup. It makes a very pale liquor as you'll see and it has very subtle notes that you're going, that, that you will detect when you drink it. It's not something you want to serve with a spicy food or some very strong tasting thing because it will, that will totally cover up the subtleties in the white tea. So after it steeps we'll take a look at it. You can see the color and we'll go on from there. Okay. Our white tea is done. We steeped it for about two minutes and I'm going to pour it out and let you take a look at not only the liquor but the infused leaf. As I pour this out you'll see that the tea is very, very pale in color and the infused leaves still, still look very much like, like tea leaves. They're very green and light. Now if you look at the color of the liquor you'll see that it's very, very pale in color. This is typical of the white tea and particularly the ones that are made from just the new growth, the buds of the tea, are going to produce a tea like this. And as for the taste it's very, it's very subtle in taste. You'll pick up notes of flowers. Some people pick up a light bit of spice when they may drink the white teas, but it's a very mild beverage. The way I like to explain it is the difference between champagne and red wine. Champagne is going to be very mild in taste. Some of the best champagnes have the most subtle notes and that's what you'll find in white tea. So many people enjoy it for that, that characteristic, but many people find it to be a little, I guess too mild for their taste.

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