Green tea has become very popular and for good reason; it's inexpensive, has lots of antioxidants and less caffeine. White tea, produced by the same plant Camellia sinensis, is growing in popularity because it has even more antioxidants and less caffeine. It also has a milder taste than green tea.
The difference between black, green and white teas is in the harvesting and processing. Black teas are fully fermented, the green tea may be lightly fermented while the white tea is just lightly steamed without any fermentation. The tea is called white because it uses only the very young leaves which have a white fuzz. The brewed tea is also much lighter in color and silkier in flavor without the aftertaste that some green teas have.
Everyone is talking about antioxidants. They are quite important to a body trying to deal with the daily toxins that assault it. White tea has been found to have about three times as much antioxidants as green tea and about twelve times as much as fresh orange juice.
The caffeine in a cup of white tea is about 15mg compared to 20mg for green tea. A cup of coffee has 90 to 150mg.
The only bad news is the price. Because the harvesting is limited to only one or two weeks in the spring there is a limited availability of the leaves; white tea is a bit more expensive. The best white teas are said to come from China's Fujian Province and cost from 50 cents to one dollar per cup. Commercial white tea is available in tea bags for about 25 cents per cup.
There are many varieties of white tea, with poetic names such as white peony, golden moon, silver needle and white cloud. White teas are now produced in China, Japan, and the Darjeeling region of India.
