Fuding White Tea

Fujian Province　Fuding White Tea　2018

　The first time I had white tea was from a tea shop in a family’s home in Fujian province. It's gentle flavor spread through my body, and I was moved by its deliciousness. I also learned about its various wonderful benefits, and felt those effects in my own body as I drank it. There are too many benefits to count, but for example, it helps to cool the body, has antioxidants, cancer-prevention properties, and is helpful for blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, toothache, and skin health. White tea has been introduced in the West as a rejuvenating tea.

Unlike other teas, white tea isn’t steamed or rolled, but is made through the simple process of plucking and drying. Therefore, you can taste the flavor of the tea leaves directly. It’s suitable for daily drinking because it has low fermentation and little caffeine, so it’s gentle on the body.

As a result of being introduced to white tea, I was drawn into the world of Chinese Tea, and I began drinking them every day.

One day when my throat was a little sore, I decided to have some white tea.

After boiling water and letting it cool to 194°F/90℃, I pour it over 5 grams of tea leaves in a gaiwan, and wait about a minute. Opening the lid, I can smell the gorgeous and rich fragrance of the tea. One of my favorite moments while preparing tea is smelling the aroma from the gaiwan after the first steeping. The flower-like sweet, relaxing aroma comes from theanine, a component in white tea. I inhaled the fragrance, raising my anticipation, and tasted the first steep. It has a mild flavor with no astringency or sharpness, and it feels like I could drink any amount of it. In truth, white tea can be infused any number of times; you can enjoy the changing flavor as you steep it multiple times. After drinking the tea all day, I had forgotten about my sore throat by the next day.

It’s said that preserving white tea in tea cakes increases its flavor and efficacy. There’s also a saying in China about white tea, “One year tea, three years medicine, seven years a treasure.” Recently, in mainland China, “Old White Tea" which has been set aside for multiple years is popular, and its price seems to be rising so much that it’s becoming an investment target.

I brought white tea back from China, but I want to drink or more than save it, so it seems like it will run out before becoming a treasure.

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