TeaChat

My local tea shop has a tea they call "White Yunnan" that I'd like to find out more about, as Yunnan seems to be better known for black teas than white. The staff doesn't know more than what it says on the label: Silvery tip, grown 1500 metres above sea level, mild taste. Like bai mu dan it is a mixture of leaves and buds, and the taste is somewhat subtler and more floral. Does anyone know what it could be and if it has a chinese name that would make it easier to search for?

I've seen several interesting teas from Yunnan in the last year, teas that in my limited experience I would associate with other parts of china (e.g., the delightful Yunnan "Oriental beauty" from Yunnan sourcing). I wonder whether the puerh bubble bursting led to a bunch of people trying to figure out what, besides puerh that they wouldn't get paid well for, they could do with the tea from plantations started at the height of the bubble.....or are these just teas that have been made there a long time with little fanfare, now finding their way to us?

A photo or two of your tea might help the real experts, who may come along shortly, to answer the question you actually asked, instead of the question I have been wanting to discuss.

Perhaps a white Mao Feng? It's the only other Chinese white besides White Peony/bai mu dan that I am aware of that contains leaves and buds. This website sells some from Yunnan.

I got a Yunnan Mao Feng from norbu that can be brewed cool and that ends up like a delicate white tea. But it was sold as a green tea.

http://www.norbutea.com/Yunnan_Mao_Feng_Green_Tea

Thanks for the replies so far. Here is a photo of "White Yunnan". Let me know if more are needed.

That does look just like the Yunnan Mao Feng from norbu--check out the photo at the link I posted above and see if you agree.

I've been enjoying this.
Yue guang bai
http://www.teatrekker.com/store/tea/gre ... g+Ming.php

Beautiful intact bud and leaf.
The other pre-ming teas are nice too.

debunix wrote:That does look just like the Yunnan Mao Feng from norbu--check out the photo at the link I posted above and see if you agree.

I thought it looked greener, but it could be the light. More opinions on this are welcome.

Traditional only teas made with certain green tea processing method (roasted/baked to kill enzyme) would be called Mao Feng. If you harvest some tea leaves, dry them out without any additional processing, it's white tea. So theoretically white tea can be made in any tea region, although some teas will be bitter unless they are processed with the kill-enzyme procedure.

gingko wrote:Traditional only teas made with certain green tea processing method (roasted/baked to kill enzyme) would be called Mao Feng. If you harvest some tea leaves, dry them out without any additional processing, it's white tea. So theoretically white tea can be made in any tea region, although some teas will be bitter unless they are processed with the kill-enzyme procedure.

So Mao Feng is white tea processed using grean tea processing methods? Or isn't Mao Feng white at all, but always green? That would explain why the web shops mentioned earlier call it green. I'm pretty confused though.

absence wrote:

gingko wrote:Traditional only teas made with certain green tea processing method (roasted/baked to kill enzyme) would be called Mao Feng. If you harvest some tea leaves, dry them out without any additional processing, it's white tea. So theoretically white tea can be made in any tea region, although some teas will be bitter unless they are processed with the kill-enzyme procedure.

So Mao Feng is white tea processed using grean tea processing methods? Or isn't Mao Feng white at all, but always green? That would explain why the web shops mentioned earlier call it green. I'm pretty confused though.

Mao Feng is a way to make green tea (typical representative is Huang Shan Mao Feng). But there are no strict rules about tea names. If a tea can be called "English Breakfast", I think it's all right to call another tea Mao Feng or whatever The tea in your photo does look to me more like a white tea than a green tea. Ultimately if a tea is made without killing-enzyme procedure then it's a white tea. But don't feel too frustrated about the names. Some of the tea names (even traditional names used for hundreds of years) were just made to be confusing I am writing a blog about confusing names of white tea, and I may finish it if I don't get exhausted by all those names

gingko wrote:The tea in your photo does look to me more like a white tea than a green tea.

I'm pretty sure it is white.

gingko wrote:Ultimately if a tea is made without killing-enzyme procedure then it's a white tea.

Is there some easy way to make absolutely sure?

gingko wrote:Some of the tea names (even traditional names used for hundreds of years) were just made to be confusing

Does that mean there's not much hope of finding out what kind of tea this is based on the picture?

gingko wrote:I am writing a blog about confusing names of white tea, and I may finish it if I don't get exhausted by all those names

Interesting! If you do, please post a link.

This is the actual tea (and my local shop's supplier): https://www.dethlefsen-balk.de/ENU/27466/Item.aspx

Their picture is a lot greener than mine. I'll try to ask them for more info, but it seems they're only doing wholesale, so I'll have to find somewhere else to buy it from after I move this summer.

absence wrote:

gingko wrote:Ultimately if a tea is made without killing-enzyme procedure then it's a white tea.

Is there some easy way to make absolutely sure?
I guess we can only ask the manufacturer to make sure of it. But I just thought of it the other day (haven't experimented on it yet), if white tea leaves are steeped in water for days, will the liquor get very dark (since enzymes are not entirely killed and oxidation will go on)? I have a green tea that has been infused in water for days (actually it's me being too lazy to get it out ) and the liquor doesn't turn dark, supposedly it's because the enzymes are all killed so oxidation won't happen rapidly.

absence wrote:

gingko wrote:I am writing a blog about confusing names of white tea, and I may finish it if I don't get exhausted by all those names

Interesting! If you do, please post a link.

Here it is. Critics and suggestions are welcome!
http://gingkobay.blogspot.com/2010/05/w ... -more.html

gingko wrote:I guess we can only ask the manufacturer to make sure of it.

They don't seem eager to answer e-mails.

gingko wrote:But I just thought of it the other day (haven't experimented on it yet), if white tea leaves are steeped in water for days, will the liquor get very dark (since enzymes are not entirely killed and oxidation will go on)?

That's a good idea, I will try.

gingko wrote:Here it is. Critics and suggestions are welcome!
http://gingkobay.blogspot.com/2010/05/w ... -more.html

I don't have the knowledge for critics, but it's an interesting read for sure.