White tea, the basic process includes withering, baking (or air-drying), sorting, and re-firing. Withering is the key step in forming the quality of white tea. Because its finished product is mostly buds covered with white down, it gets its name for looking like silver or snow. These ten points are all based on the characteristics of white tea, which are both its health benefits and what sets it apart from other types of tea.
【No Fire Taste】
In the “Small Treatise on Spring Water” by Tian Yiheng of the Ming Dynasty, it is written, “Tea processed with fire is second-rate; sun-dried tea is superior, closer to nature and free of any smoky taste.” Without frying or kneading, white tea, which is closest to natural flavors, does not contain a fire taste and is refreshingly cool.
【Full of Charm】
White tea is elegant, with a bright infusion color and a clear fragrance that is refreshing and moistening when sipped. Its character makes people like it.
【Lowers the Three Highs】
White tea contains essential active enzymes that can significantly increase the activity of lipase in the body, promoting fat metabolism, effectively controlling insulin secretion, delaying the absorption of glucose in the intestines, and decomposing excess sugar in the blood, promoting balanced blood sugar levels. It has prominent effects in lowering blood lipids and blood pressure, making it suitable for those with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar.
【Rich in Components】
In addition to the usual nutritional components found in other teas, white tea also contains a variety of amino acids. It is cool in nature and has the effect of cooling, heat-clearing, and detoxifying. In “A Brief Record of Fujian” by Zhou Lianggong of the Qing Dynasty, it is recorded: “White Pekoe Silver Needle, produced in the Hongxue Cave of Mount Taimao, is cool in nature and as effective as rhino horn, being a miraculous medicine for treating measles.”
【Medicinal Use】
It can prevent heatstroke, dispel heat, detoxify, and treat toothaches. In particular, aged white tea can be used as a fever-reducing medicine for children with measles, more effective than antibiotics in reducing fever.
【Suitable for Appreciation】
The appearance of white tea is beautiful, with Silver Needles covered in down being adorable in water, and the unfurling of White Peony leaves and buds is charming yet demure, both trendy and interesting, widely enjoyed by female tea enthusiasts.
【Improves Vision】
White tea also contains abundant vitamin A precursors, which, once absorbed by the human body, can quickly convert into vitamin A. Vitamin A can synthesize rhodopsin, enabling clearer vision in dim light, and can help prevent night blindness and dry eye disease. Additionally, white tea contains substances that protect the body's hematopoietic function and significantly reduce the harm caused by radiation from computers and televisions.
【Protects the Liver】
It protects and nourishes the liver and helps with hangovers. The dihydromyricetin and other flavonoids in white tea can protect the liver by accelerating the breakdown of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of alcohol, into harmless substances, thus reducing damage to liver cells.
【Prevents Heatstroke】
“In spring, nourish the liver; in summer, nourish the heart; in late summer, nurture the spleen; in autumn, nourish the lungs; in winter, nourish the kidneys.” Summer corresponds to the heart and the element of fire. Everything grows to its peak, and the heat is intense. Focus should be placed on nurturing the heart, avoiding anger and resentment, maintaining a gentle heart and a broad mind. The body's turbid qi is expelled, and the skin's pores open, aligning with the characteristic of summer yang qi being externally active. Suitable teas include aged white tea, green tea, Tie Guan Yin, Taiwan high mountain tea, and raw Pu'er.
【Ages Well】
White tea is described as “one year as tea, three years as medicine, seven years as treasure,” indicating that it can be stored long-term and offers many benefits. To be precise, white tea stored for five to six years is considered aged.
As time passes, the internal components of white tea become richer and more mellow, retaining the unique downy aroma alongside the aged fragrance. The taste is rich and the liquor is amber-colored, bright and transparent. At this age, the effects of anti-cancer, cancer prevention, heatstroke prevention, detoxification, and allergy relief become more pronounced. During the early stages of a cold, drinking several cups of hot aged white tea can make one feel much better.
