Rishi White tea is semi-oxidized and carefully made with a gentle process of withering, curing, and drying. Of all the types of tea, white teas are the least processed. They are characterized by delicate flavors, a smooth mouthfeel, and a subtly fruity, sweet finish.
White teas tend to have less bitterness than other teas, and can be more forgiving of water temperature and infusion times than green teas. Rishi Tea offers several pure white teas as well as signature white teas blended with fragrant herbs and botanicals.
Most white teas are made from medium-leaf tea bush varieties that yield silvery-white sprouts and leaves. They are delicately hand-harvested only once a year, for a few weeks in early spring when the weather is consistently cool and dry. The withering process of white tea raises an abundance of silvery-white hairs on the dried tealeaves and buds. Authentic white teas such as White Peony are multi-colored like autumn leaves, and are covered with a silver-white "down" that resembles the skin of a ripened peach. Silver Needle, the premier style of white tea, consists of only silvery-white sprouts shaped like needles without attached leaves. White teas take their name both from their appearance and from the original Fujian tea bush varieties selected for the production of white tea. These medium-leaf tea bushes include "Fuding Da Hao" (Fuding County's Big Silvery-Hair) and "Fuding Da Bai" (Fuding County's Big White).
Geographically, white tea originated north of the Min River in China's Fujian Province in the town of Zhenghe. While many white teas are still produced in Zhenghe today, others are produced in nearby Fuding. In fact, over the last decade, new types of white tea have emerged in many areas outside of Fujian. One of our favorite new origins for white tea is Yunnan Province, where leaves destined to be made into white tea are harvested from ancient heirloom assamica variety trees. Depending on prevailing weather and seasonal character, Rishi Tea produces white teas in Zhenghe, Fuding, and Yunnan. We offer single farm micro-lots as well as exclusive varietal and multiple-farm blends of organic white teas.
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