White teas come very carefully selected tea plants. The growth buds and baby leaves are picked and harvested before the leaves fully open, when the buds are still covered by fine white hair. Hence the name.
Great care is taken in harvesting and these fine teas undergo very little processing. Leaves are plucked, naturally withered and generally dried in the sun.
If mechanical drying is required, leaves are baked at the lowest
temperature possible. Because of gentle handling, the natural down
which grows on tea leaves is still present giving a silvery cast to the
dried leaves. The slight dust present in your package is some of this
down rubbing off.
Flavor is light, somewhat sweet, but still has surprising body. Because of the light flavor, white teas take flavoring very well. It is best to steep white teas in water just below the boiling point.
