Merkaba2

White tea is made from the youngest buds, picked in Spring, before they are open and still covered in fine white hairs, it is the most natural of all teas. It utilizes the youngest leaves (new
growth buds) that have undergone little to no processing and no oxidation; the buds may be shielded from sunlight to prevent formation of chlorophyll. White tea is produced in lesser
quantities than most of the other styles, and can be correspondingly more expensive than tea from the same plant processed by other methods. It has more antioxidants and less caffeine than
green tea. Its popularity is growing, increasing with the increased research of tea benefits and wider spread commercial usage.

The quality of white tea is greatly dependent on the season of harvesting and the weather conditions when the tea is made.. The best white tea is picked in early spring and is subject to
numerous requirements. First of all, picking top-grade white tea is prohibited on rainy days or when the early morning dew is not dry. It should never be picked when the buds appear purple;
when they are damaged by wind, people, or insects; when they have begun to open; when they are hollow; when they are too long or too thin; when there is one bud with three to four leaves;
and when there is frost on the ground. Only special groupings of two leaves and a bud are selected. These leaves must show a very light green almost gray white color and be covered with
velvet peach fuzz down. The ideal is a leaf or two being wrapped around a newly developing shoot. Tips are harvested exclusively by hand. Or rather glove, because until it reaches your
teapot, white tea never comes into contact with human skin. These shoots are plucked and segregated from the rest of the leaf being plucked.

White Tea leaves are not steamed or pan-fired as is the case in green tea but rather the leaves are naturally withered, hand selected and sun dried. The tea leaves are tenderly spread out on
wooden trays almost immediately after harvesting. While black tea is poured into industrial drying machines, white tea must dry naturally in the sun. White tea does not go through the process
of the flowing of hot air, so that the fine white hairs are not destroyed. The delicate appearance and flavor of the leaf are also preserved.