$31.99
White tea is among the most prized styles of tea in the world, historically reserved only as tribute teas to Chinese emperors. Fortunately, today we can all drink like royalty! These complex teas offer a panorama of delicate flavors and aromas, and the best ones complement these nuances tastes with wonderfully heavy mouthfeel.
Traditionally, white tea is made only in the spring, just as the first shoots of the year emerge. The tea farmer has to exercise a discerning pluck to harvest only the terminal growth of the tea bush, a fragile, flavor-packed part of the leaf. The harvest is carefully transported to the processing area, where it is minimally handled to avoid damage.
Our loose leaf white tea bundle includes three whites teas that demonstrate how much white tea has to offer. The Kumaon White is made by small farmers in the Champawat Village of Kumaon, who harvest tea bushes in late March just as the plants come out of winter dormancy. Most of the tea bushes they pluck to make this tea are more than 150 years old, and the bushes’ age contributes to a surprising strength for white tea, along with unique notes of peeled cucumber and melon. The Nepali Silver Needle comes from our partners at the Kanchanjangha Tea Estate in Eastern Nepal, where small farmers painstakingly harvest only the stretching bud of the tea plant. This highly prized tea, which can only be made under specific conditions, carries elegant notes of creamy caramel and blossoming lilac. Finally, the Nilgiri Platinum Needle from the all-woman team at the Tea Studio in South India is is a micro-lot white tea with a well-rounded body with sweet corn flavors and a heavy mouthfeel that sits deep on the tongue. These intricate flavors only come out when the tea is steeped gently, using a low temperature to ensure the fragile bud isn’t cooked.
With all white teas, be sure to re-steep the same leaves multiple times to get the most out of your loose leaf tea; often the best flavors only reveal themselves in the second or third infusions!
The White Tea Bundle comes with a total of 2.5 oz of loose leaf white tea including:
