White Tea

Introduction to White Tea

White tea is a slightly fermented tea and a traditional famous tea created by Chinese tea farmers. It is one of the six major types of tea in China. It refers to a type of tea that is picked, not withered or rolled, but only sun-dried or slowly dried. It has the quality characteristics of complete buds, full of hairs, fresh fragrance, clear yellow-green soup, and light and sweet taste. It is a slightly fermented tea and a special treasure among Chinese teas. It is named because its finished tea is mostly buds, full of white hairs, like silver and snow. The main production areas are Fuding, Zhenghe, Songxi, Jianyang in Fujian, Jinggu in Yunnan and other places. The basic process includes withering, baking (or shade drying), picking, and re-firing. The main process of Yunnan white tea is sun-drying. The advantage of sun-drying green tea is that the taste maintains the original fragrance of tea. Withering is the key process to form the quality of white tea.

White tea is mainly divided into: First Day Bud, Silver Needle, White Peony, Shoumei (Gongmei) due to different tea tree varieties and raw material (fresh leaf) picking standards.

White tea effects and functions

White tea has excellent medicinal properties. It has the effects of sobering up, clearing away heat and moistening the lungs, calming the liver and benefiting the blood, reducing inflammation and detoxification, lowering blood pressure and reducing fat, and eliminating fatigue. It has a unique and magical health-care effect, especially for physical discomfort and digestive dysfunction caused by excessive smoking and drinking, excessive greasy food, and excessive liver fire.

Treat measles

White tea can prevent cancer, fight cancer, prevent heat stroke, detoxify, and treat toothache. Especially aged white tea can be used as a fever reducer for infants with measles, and its fever-reducing effect is better than antibiotics. It is widely regarded as a good medicine for treating and caring for measles patients in North China and Fujian. Therefore, Zhou Lianggong, a famous person in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in "Min Xiaoji": "Baihao Yinzhen, produced in Hongxue Cave of Taimu Mountain, is cold in nature and has the same effect as rhinoceros horn. It is a holy medicine for treating measles.

Promotes blood sugar balance

In addition to the nutrients inherent in other teas, white tea also contains active enzymes necessary for the human body. Long-term drinking of white tea can significantly increase the activity of lipoprotein lipase in the body, promote fat decomposition and metabolism, effectively control insulin secretion, delay intestinal absorption of grape powder, decompose excess sugar in the blood, and promote blood sugar balance. White tea is rich in various amino acids and is cold in nature, which has the function of reducing fever, removing heat and detoxifying.

Improve eyesight

The longer the white tea is stored, the higher its medicinal value. White tea is also rich in provitamin A, which can be quickly converted into vitamin A after being absorbed by the human body. Vitamin A can synthesize rhodopsin, which can make the eyes see things more clearly in dim light and prevent night blindness and dry eye disease. At the same time, white tea also has anti-radiation substances, which have a significant protective effect on the body's hematopoietic function and can reduce the harm of television radiation.

Liver protection

White tea flakes are rich in natural flavonoid substances such as dihydromyricetin, which can protect the liver, accelerate the rapid decomposition of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of ethanol, into non-toxic substances, and reduce damage to liver cells. On the other hand, dihydromyricetin can improve the increase in serum lactate dehydrogenase activity caused by liver cell damage, inhibit the formation of collagen fibers in hepatic M cells, thereby protecting the liver, greatly reducing the damage of ethanol to the liver, and quickly restoring the liver to normal state. At the same time, dihydromyricetin takes effect quickly and has a long-lasting effect. It is a good product for protecting the liver and sobering up from alcohol.

Medicinal value of white tea

In addition to the nutrients inherent in other teas, white tea also contains active enzymes necessary for the human body. Medical research at home and abroad has shown that long-term drinking of white tea can significantly increase the activity of lipase in the human body, promote fat metabolism, effectively control insulin secretion, delay intestinal absorption of glucose, break down excess sugar in the blood, and promote blood sugar balance.

White tea contains rich amino acids. It is cold in nature and has the effect of reducing fever, removing heat and detoxifying. In the production area, sipping a cup of white peony tea in summer will rarely cause heat stroke. Therefore, white peony is one of the must-have white teas for local tea farmers in summer. In North my country and Fujian, it is widely regarded as a good medicine for measles patients. Therefore, Zhou Lianggong, a famous person in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in "Min Xiaoji": "Baihao Yinzhen, produced in Hongxue Cave, Taimu Mountain, is cold in nature and has the same attack as rhinoceros horn. It is a holy medicine for treating measles." There is still an original mother tree of Fuding Dabaicha with an age of more than 170 years in Taimu Mountain, named "Green Snow Bud". The longer the white tea is stored, the higher its medicinal value. White tea also contains rich provitamin A, which can be quickly converted into vitamin A after being absorbed by the human body, which can prevent night blindness and dry eye disease. At the same time, white tea also contains anti-radiation substances, which have a significant protective effect on the body's hematopoietic function and can reduce the harm of TV radiation. Therefore, drinking more white tea while watching TV is beneficial without any harm. Children in particular should be encouraged to drink more white tea, which is beneficial to protect the eyes and keep the body healthy.

White tea beauty effects

1. White tea has the lowest free radical content. Excess free radicals are an important cause of aging and pathological changes in the human body. The free radicals in other teas are 1.6143 times that of white tea.

2. White tea has the highest flavonoid content. Flavonoids have a strong antioxidant effect. The flavonoid content of white tea increases by 16.2 times during the processing, which is 14.221.4 times that of other tea processes.

3. White tea has a better bactericidal effect than green tea. White tea extract can effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause staphylococcal infection, streptococcal infection, pneumonia, etc.

4. White tea has good antioxidant, anti-aging and skin cancer inhibition effects

5. White tea can significantly reduce the levels of transaminase and malondialdehyde in mice with carbon tetrachloride liver injury by 21.8% and 38.5% respectively.

6. White tea can significantly increase the serum EPO level of experimental mice, the increase is 1.4-1.8 times that of 5% American ginseng, playing a key role in red blood cell production

7. White tea can prolong cell life and increase RNA and protein synthesis

How to brew white tea

Cup Brewing Method

If you drink white tea alone, you can brew it in a cup. Use a 200ml large glass cup, take 5g of white tea, use 90-degree boiling water, first warm it up and smell the fragrance, then brew it directly with boiling water, and it can be drunk after one minute.

Bowl Method

If there are fewer people, such as two people, you can drink together. In that case, we only need to put about three grams of white tea into the covered bowl, and then brew it with boiling water, so that you can smell the warm fragrance. Remember to extend the brewing time by 20 seconds after the first brewing time of 45 seconds. In this way, everyone will taste the very fragrant white tea.

Pot Brewing

If three to five people are drinking white tea, they can use a pot to brew it. A medium-quality big-bellied purple clay pot is the best choice for brewing white tea.

Take 7-10g of white tea and put it into the pot. Warm it with 90-degree boiling water and then steep it with 100-degree boiling water. It can be served after 45-60 seconds. This way you can taste the pure and mellow taste.

Big Pot Method

Pour about 15 grams of white tea into a large pot, then brew it with boiling water. After drinking it, add more boiling water to simmer it. You can drink it from morning to night. The steps are very simple, but the taste is very mellow and refreshing.

This method can also be shared by the whole family, especially in summer, because white tea tastes better when it is cold and it will not harm the body at all.

Cooking method

The boiling method is the most special health-preserving way of drinking white tea, and it is also a secret recipe that has been used by the people.

Add 15g of old white tea to clean water, boil for 3 minutes until it becomes a thick juice, then filter out the tea, wait until it cools to 70 degrees, add a spoonful of honey or rock sugar and drink it while hot. You will feel light and calm. You can experience its wonderful effects, and its taste is even more mellow and unique.

White tea contraindications

1. When drinking white tea, it should not be too strong. Generally, 5 grams of tea leaves are enough for 150 ml of water. The water temperature should be above 95℃. The first brewing time is about 5 minutes. After filtering, pour the tea soup into the teacup and drink it. The second brewing time is only 3 minutes, that is, it should be brewed as you drink. Generally, a cup of white tea can be brewed four or five times.

2. White tea is cold in nature. People with a "hot" stomach can drink it in moderation on an empty stomach. People with a neutral stomach can drink it at any time, while people with a "cold" stomach should drink it after meals. However, white tea generally does not irritate the stomach wall.

3. There are no particular requirements for the utensils used to drink white tea. You can use teacups, teacups, teapots, etc. If you use the drinking utensils and brewing methods of "Kung Fu Tea", the effect will certainly be better.

4. Generally, 5 grams of white tea per person per day is enough, and the elderly should not drink too much. The same is true for other teas. Drinking too much will lead to "extremes leading to the opposite", and it will not play a health-care role. Here I would like to remind everyone that people with kidney deficiency, heart patients with tachycardia, severe hypertension, severe constipation, severe neurasthenia, and iron deficiency anemia should not drink strong tea, nor should they drink tea on an empty stomach. Otherwise, it may cause "tea drunkenness".

5. White tea should be drunk regularly and not intermittently. The health-care effect of white tea is long-lasting and should not be interrupted, otherwise it will not be effective. Hua Tuo, a famous ancient doctor, proposed the argument in "On Food" that "drinking bitter tea for a long time will improve thinking." Tea should be drunk at the right time and should not be drunk blindly. As the saying goes, "Tea after meals helps digestion, and afternoon tea helps to keep spirits up." It is not suitable to drink tea before meals and before going to bed.