3 ms·

I had always understood that white tea had minimal processing, so I don't understand this assertion: "Without oxidation, tea would taste unbearably bitter." P

by chasil 5y ago

I had always understood that white tea had minimal processing, so I don't understand this assertion: "Without oxidation, tea would taste unbearably bitter." Perhaps white tea has not reached an adult phase with the associated bitterness. Contast to: "White tea may refer to... minimally processed leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_tea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_tea

cmogni1 5y ago
White tea is oxidized naturally for a while. The article is referring to freshly picked leaves.
- foo_barrio 5y ago
  That would be green tea no? You pick the green tea, cook it to denature the enzymes to arrest the oxidization (called the "killgreen" step in Chinese) and voila, green tea! Lots of green teas can be quite smooth and even more so with more careful brewing.
  - yvdriess 5y ago
    Yes, green tea needs lower temperature and controlled infusion time, but rewards that. The author definitely does not seem to be a fan and is not doing it justice.
  - cmogni1 5y ago
    Yeah! Green tea gets fried or steamed right away to halt oxidation. That kills off some of the undesirable bitterness that masks some flavors that are even present in fresh leaves. It is not that Green doesn’t have any taste; it is that there are more guardrails over what flavors can appear and how distinct they can be.
  - hinkley 5y ago
    The Brit I mentioned elsewhere seemed to think it was the drying that arrested the chemical processes in the tea. He was also adamant about storing it in well sealed containers out of direct sunlight. I ended up throwing away a couple of containers because of this (although I've kept a couple that are just too beautiful to part with - I store my daily drinker in there since it doesn't need to keep as long). Also explains why my dealer uses mylar vacuum packs for anything over an ounce. No oxygen, no light.
    - foo_barrio 5y ago
      White tea does not undergo the "killgreen" step that green teas and oolongs teas do IIRC. The drying slows the oxidation but does not arrest it. "Aged" white tea is a thing. If you let it sit around long enough it turns deep red. Green tea just turns into stale tea. They even compress white teas into something similar to those "Pu'er Cakes".
- chasil 5y ago
  The odd thing is that the range (and top end) of antioxidants in white tea is larger than in green. "Total catechin content (TCC) for white teas ranged widely from 14.40 to 369.60 mg/g of dry plant material for water extracts and 47.16 to 163.94 mg/g for methanol extracts. TCC for green teas also ranged more than 10-fold, from 21.38 to 228.20 mg/g of dry plant material for water extracts and 32.23 to 141.24 mg/g for methanol extracts." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20722909/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20722909/
  - hinkley 5y ago
    Is it odd or is it thermal breakdown of chemicals?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
hinkley 5y ago
Traditionally white tea was created from tea buds. If you've ever gardened, you know how dicey those first few days are because the plants that have defenses against caterpillars and slugs are vulnerable until the leaves are fully formed. Caffeine is a pesticide, and the young shoots don't contain much of it. Last I remembered looking, white tea has about the same caffeine as decaffeinated coffee (which I use both as a sales pitch for getting people to try white tea and a warning against people complaining about having trouble sleeping - there's still caffeine in your decaf, buddy). Since you pick the leaves before they are grown, you're pruning the tree and potentially reducing your crop. Which is why it was a drink of the nobility. Basically you're so rich you can afford to reduce your crop by (conjecture) 10% for a taste sensation, or pay someone else for the privilege. I suspect we have so much of it now because 1) Republic of Tea basically went through every tea fad in the history of tea in a 15 year period, presumably to keep sales numbers up with novelty, and 2) it's likely that there is oversupply in the tea market, so white tea gives you another shot at a sale. Unlike coffee, which gets one harvest per year (although some people are trying to bring coffee leaf tea into the group consciousness), it's typical to get at least 2 harvests of tea per year, 3 or more in a great year. Which I discovered when I noticed my dealer putting numbers and/or seasons on her tea. If they are regrowing that fast then white tea might not be that big of a burden.

by chasil 5y ago

cmogni1 5y ago

White tea is oxidized naturally for a while. The article is referring to freshly picked leaves.

foo_barrio 5y ago
That would be green tea no? You pick the green tea, cook it to denature the enzymes to arrest the oxidization (called the "killgreen" step in Chinese) and voila, green tea! Lots of green teas can be quite smooth and even more so with more careful brewing.
- yvdriess 5y ago
  Yes, green tea needs lower temperature and controlled infusion time, but rewards that. The author definitely does not seem to be a fan and is not doing it justice.
- cmogni1 5y ago
  Yeah! Green tea gets fried or steamed right away to halt oxidation. That kills off some of the undesirable bitterness that masks some flavors that are even present in fresh leaves. It is not that Green doesn’t have any taste; it is that there are more guardrails over what flavors can appear and how distinct they can be.
- hinkley 5y ago
  The Brit I mentioned elsewhere seemed to think it was the drying that arrested the chemical processes in the tea. He was also adamant about storing it in well sealed containers out of direct sunlight. I ended up throwing away a couple of containers because of this (although I've kept a couple that are just too beautiful to part with - I store my daily drinker in there since it doesn't need to keep as long). Also explains why my dealer uses mylar vacuum packs for anything over an ounce. No oxygen, no light.
  - foo_barrio 5y ago
    White tea does not undergo the "killgreen" step that green teas and oolongs teas do IIRC. The drying slows the oxidation but does not arrest it. "Aged" white tea is a thing. If you let it sit around long enough it turns deep red. Green tea just turns into stale tea. They even compress white teas into something similar to those "Pu'er Cakes".
chasil 5y ago
The odd thing is that the range (and top end) of antioxidants in white tea is larger than in green. "Total catechin content (TCC) for white teas ranged widely from 14.40 to 369.60 mg/g of dry plant material for water extracts and 47.16 to 163.94 mg/g for methanol extracts. TCC for green teas also ranged more than 10-fold, from 21.38 to 228.20 mg/g of dry plant material for water extracts and 32.23 to 141.24 mg/g for methanol extracts." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20722909/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20722909/
- hinkley 5y ago
  Is it odd or is it thermal breakdown of chemicals?

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

hinkley 5y ago

Traditionally white tea was created from tea buds. If you've ever gardened, you know how dicey those first few days are because the plants that have defenses against caterpillars and slugs are vulnerable until the leaves are fully formed. Caffeine is a pesticide, and the young shoots don't contain much of it. Last I remembered looking, white tea has about the same caffeine as decaffeinated coffee (which I use both as a sales pitch for getting people to try white tea and a warning against people complaining about having trouble sleeping - there's still caffeine in your decaf, buddy). Since you pick the leaves before they are grown, you're pruning the tree and potentially reducing your crop. Which is why it was a drink of the nobility. Basically you're so rich you can afford to reduce your crop by (conjecture) 10% for a taste sensation, or pay someone else for the privilege. I suspect we have so much of it now because 1) Republic of Tea basically went through every tea fad in the history of tea in a 15 year period, presumably to keep sales numbers up with novelty, and 2) it's likely that there is oversupply in the tea market, so white tea gives you another shot at a sale. Unlike coffee, which gets one harvest per year (although some people are trying to bring coffee leaf tea into the group consciousness), it's typical to get at least 2 harvests of tea per year, 3 or more in a great year. Which I discovered when I noticed my dealer putting numbers and/or seasons on her tea. If they are regrowing that fast then white tea might not be that big of a burden.