---
title: 'White tea'
url: 'https://howtotea.me/teas/white'
markdown: 'https://howtotea.me/teas/white.md'
lang: en
date: '2026-11-03'
description: 'White tea is only withered and dried, never fixed or rolled. Its Fujian home, four types from Bai Hao Yin Zhen to Shou Mei, aging and how to brew it.'
---

# White tea 白茶

Of the six types, white tea has the shortest processing: the leaf is only withered and dried. The name comes from the white down on the buds.

 ![Freshly picked tea leaves spread in a thin layer to wither](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-682bc8fc.webp) Photo: [KZZZ01](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White_Tea_Withering.jpg), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), cropped 

白茶

White tea

bái chá

 Tea type 

 Oxidation: light, happens on its own during withering

Key step: long withering, no fixation or rolling

Main province: Fujian: Fuding and Zhenghe counties

Raw material: downy buds and young leaves of Da Bai cultivars

Liquor color: pale straw to amber

 **85–90°**, water

**5 g**, per 100 ml

**6–8**, infusions

White tea takes two steps, withering and then drying. There is no fixing or rolling, so leaves and buds keep their natural shape, and oxidation runs on its own, slowly and lightly. The liquor is pale and sweet, with a scent of hay, honey and dried flowers.

## Withering

Nearly everything depends on withering, wei diao (萎凋). Producers spread fresh leaf on bamboo trays, in the shade or in a well-ventilated room, and leave it for two to three days. It loses most of its water, turns soft and darkens slightly at the edges. In damp weather they warm it with hot air to keep mold away. A final drying over a low fire finishes the tea.

![Buds and young leaves withering on a flat bamboo sieve](https://howtotea.me/images/z/a/v/y/a/zavyalivanie-afc387c2.webp)Illustration

## Fujian and the four types

Classic white tea comes from northeastern Fujian, from the counties of Fuding and Zhenghe. The local cultivars Fuding Da Bai and Zhenghe Da Bai have large buds thickly covered in silvery down, bai hao (白毫). The Chinese national standard divides white tea into four types by raw material[1](#fn:1):

| Type | Raw material |
|---|---|
| [Bai Hao Yin Zhen](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/bai-hao-yin-zhen) | buds only |
| [Bai Mu Dan](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/bai-mu-dan) | a bud with one or two leaves |
| Gong Mei | buds and leaves of local small-leaf bushes |
| [Shou Mei](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/shou-mei) | leaves from later pickings, few buds |

The more buds a tea has, the paler and more delicate it is. Shou Mei brews fuller and darker and is the type most often pressed into cakes.

## Aging

[Green tea](https://howtotea.me/teas/green) goes flat with time. White tea kept in [dry storage](https://howtotea.me/brewing/basics/storage) changes instead: the liquor darkens to amber, the grassy notes fade, and dates, prunes and medicinal herbs appear. Sellers love quoting Fuding sayings about the virtues of age, but aged Shou Mei really is noticeably different from fresh.

## How to brew

White tea is hard to ruin: it has little bitterness, and a long steep only makes the liquor denser. Brew Bai Hao Yin Zhen at 80–85 °C [in a glass](https://howtotea.me/brewing/methods/grandpa-style) or a [gaiwan](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/gaiwan). Shou Mei and aged cakes take water straight off the boil.

Aged Shou Mei

After five or six infusions, aged leaf can be [simmered](https://howtotea.me/brewing/methods/zhu-cha): put it in a pot of water and keep it over a low flame for 5 minutes. The result is thick and sweet.

In this section

- [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-4d1e13b6.webp) Bai Hao Yin Zhen 白毫银针 Bai Hao Yin Zhen is a white tea made only from buds, grown in Fuding and Zhenghe in Fujian. How it is withered and dried, how it ages, how to brew it. ](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/bai-hao-yin-zhen)
- [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-bdccf800.webp) Bai Mu Dan 白牡丹 Bai Mu Dan is a white tea made from a bud with one or two leaves. Where it comes from, how it is withered, its grades and Mu Dan Wang, how to brew it. ](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/bai-mu-dan)
- [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-d57163da.webp) Shou Mei 寿眉 Shou Mei is a leafy white tea from later pickings in Fujian. How it differs from Gong Mei, why it is pressed into cakes, how it ages and how to simmer it. ](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/shou-mei)

Notes

1. GB/T 22291-2017 "White tea" (白茶). [↩](#fnref1:1)

---

## Navigation

- Parent: [Tea types](https://howtotea.me/teas.md)
- Previous: [Green tea](https://howtotea.me/teas/green.md)
- Next: [Yellow tea](https://howtotea.me/teas/yellow.md)
- Children:
  - [Bai Hao Yin Zhen](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/bai-hao-yin-zhen.md)
  - [Bai Mu Dan](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/bai-mu-dan.md)
  - [Shou Mei](https://howtotea.me/teas/white/shou-mei.md)