The white tea from Anji / Anji baicha

安吉白茶 / Anji baicha

Anji baicha is an early spring green tea originating from the city of Anji in Zhejiang Province. …but wait, why green when it is white?

True! The cultivar Bai ye yi hao (White leaf number one) has an albinic stage that has pale white tea buds early in spring. That’s why this tea is called ” the white tea”, however this tea is processed very quickly by drying to keep its color, rather then withering unrolled leaves similarly to other white teas from Fujian or Yunnan provinces. In this ablinic stage of growing the content of amino-acids in leaves are very abundant and are decreasing within the upcoming warmer and sunnier weeks when leaves turn green. Within this stage the caffeine content is also low. It is very good to drink it in hot seasons.

Preparation: This tea is sensitive to a temperature of water when steeping. It is advised to use 45-55°C water and steep at least 30 seconds and more for stronger infusion.

Always use filtered or spring water low on minerals to get the most pleasant infusion.

The fragrance of the dry leaves resemble white chocolate and cakes. The taste is initially lightly sweet with dense thickness in mouth. Later it gets the taste after a chestnuts with great aftertaste making you want to drink more of it.