White tea
| German | White tea |
|---|---|
| English | White tea |
| Chinese | 白茶 , bái chá |
| Water temperature | 70-90 ° C |
| Brewing time | 1-5 min. |
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White tea ( Chinese 白茶 , pinyin bái chá ) is made in a process similar to green tea . The tea is heated and dried shortly after harvest in order to interrupt the fermentation so that only a small percentage of partially fermented tea is contained. White tea gets its name from the fine, light fluff that covers the tea leaves of these varieties. In the case of high-quality varieties, the infusion is usually light in color, with little tannin and has a mild and floral taste.
White tea has its origins in China, but is now produced in many tea regions; in addition to China, for example, in Rize , Assam , Darjeeling , Nilgiri , Sri Lanka , Malawi , Kenya . The character is very different according to the tea plants used and the regional climate.
Production steps (exemplary):
- Hand picking the fresh leaves
- Cool / air the leaves for about 2-3 hours
- Wither on wilt mats / baskets for about 10-14 hours at a humidity of about 60% and an ambient temperature of 25-26 ° C
- First drying process for 10–15 minutes at a temperature of 100–130 ° C
- Sorting by hand
- Second drying process for about 12 minutes at a temperature of 130 ° C
- Mixing and packing
White tea is one of the six Chinese teas . White tea achieves its quality primarily through the special selection of the tea plants and leaves: only the unopened leaf buds of the tea bush, which is grown in the Fujian province in southern China , are used for particularly high-quality varieties such as Yin Zhen . Around 30,000 hand-picked buds are needed to make one kilogram of white tea. This type of tea gets its mild taste from the gentle light and air drying.
White teas are also used for high-quality tea roses that can be infused several times.
Not least because of the polyphenol content , white tea is said to have a health-promoting effect. Polyphenols are highly effective antioxidants that render free radicals harmless and thus strengthen the immune system . The Chinese say that white tea also has an antihypertensive effect. White tea contains caffeine and theophylline .
sorts
The best-known and most popular varieties of white tea are the large-leaved Pai Mu Tan ( 白牡丹 - "white peony") ( Bai Mudan tea ), and the high-quality Yin Zhen , German 'silver needle', for the particularly young and aromatic Shoots of the large white tea bush are picked. The price for these high-quality teas is 3 to 40 euros per 100 grams. Another example of white tea is shou mei tea .
preparation
White tea is made like green tea . Water that is too hot destroys the vitamin C contained in tea , which improves the absorption of the polyphenols contained in tea via the intestines, but not the polyphenols themselves. It can also have a negative effect on the taste. Therefore, the boiling water should cool to around 75 ° C before use. A better absorption of the polyphenols can be achieved by scalding the tea with 95 ° C hot water, longer brewing time and subsequent addition of vitamin C (lemon juice) when the infusion has cooled down. It is best to use soft water. Preheat the cup or jug by rinsing it with hot water. Eight to eleven grams of tea are taken per liter of water and left to steep for between one and five minutes, depending on the type and taste.
The Yin Zhen variety can be steeped for three to four minutes in a lower water temperature, but this results in a heavier and more persistent taste. Depending on personal taste, a higher initial water temperature of 90 ° C is also possible with a steeping time of 4 minutes.
A serving of tea leaves can be infused several times. Each infusion will have a different taste.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Much of the content of the article comes from this report: “White tea - Exclusives for connoisseurs” on Gesundheit.de (the German Tea Association is given as the source ).