Loose Leaf White Tea

If you're wondering "What does white tea taste like?", white tea is the least processed of all teas - with the lightest flavours. White tea leaves are gentle on both your taste buds and your tummy whilst retaining rich antioxidants. White teas are made from spring buds, like our White Silver Tips and new leaves like our Malawi White Peony which are naturally sweeter in flavour.

Our white tea is sourced directly from farmers all over the world including China, Malawi, and Nepal. Silver tips are made with the unopened leaf buds and white peony is made from the open first new leaves. The rarest of all are the Antlers which are made from the most tender stems.

We are often asked about the health benefits of drinking white tea but we are not scientists or health professionals so we steer clear from wild claims about the amazing benefits of any tea, including white tea. Teas contain all sorts of wonderful properties but white teas are particularly rich in antioxidants because it is the least processed of all the teas. One of the best-researched impacts of antioxidants is their ability to fight free radicals in the body.

Just as importantly though, tea makes you feel good. Tea is a rich source of the amino acid L-theanine, which is linked to mood enhancement. It is understood to be even more effective when combined with caffeine (all tea made from Camellia sinensis contains caffeine and L-theanine).

For the best health benefits from drinking white tea, we recommend drinking pure loose leaf tea rather than white teabags. Tea bags are made from all sorts of materials including plastic, bleaches and glues that will be leached into your cup of tea - not particularly delicious or good for you.

All our teas are organically grown, free from harmful chemical pesticides and herbicides to ensure Rare Teas are always good for you and the planet.

White tea tea contains caffeine. White tea, like green tea, oolong tea and black tea is made from the tea plant - Camellia sinensis - which naturally contains caffeine.

We have seen a large amount of misinformation about white tea being lower in caffeine than other teas but this is not always the case. White tea can be lower in caffeine but much of this is down to the harvest, season AND most importantly the infusion process - the shorter the infusion and the lower the water temperature, the less caffeine that will be extracted from the leaf. White tea is often infused at a lower temperature than black tea which is why it could contain less caffeine.

White and green tea are two different categories of tea but both come from the same Camellia sinensis plant. White teas are the least oxidised of all teas and are usually lighter in flavour and colour. When you compare white tea vs green tea, the main difference is that the flavours are far more delicate, sweet and ethereal. White tea benefits from being particularly low in tannins and even after a long infusion it will not become bitter.

If you would like to discover more white and green teas, explore our White & Green Tea Subscription Box.

White teas are delicately plucked and dried - there is no additional processing which is why we consider white tea to be the purest expression of the tea leaf. The best quality white teas are usually made from the youngest leaves or buds from the tea plant.

Only our Jasmine Silver Tip (or Jasmine Silver Needle) tea goes through any additional crafting where the white tea buds are laboriously scented with fresh jasmine flowers over six continuous nights, imparting the most wonderful jasmine aroma.