White tea is divided into four categories.
- Quenel
- Mar 6, 2018
- 2 min read
By grading ranked from top to lower quality
1. White Hair Silver Needle ( Bai Hao Yin Zhen )
The higher grade of single bud White Hair Silver Needle is named Tai Lao Silver Needle. The first pick White Hair Silver Needle from beginning first 10 day of spring, is called Tou Pi Zhen which means First Batch Needle, also named Mi Needle and First Day Tea. According to the degree of boldness of bud tips, they are divided into two grades.
2. White Peony ( Bai Mu Dan)
The characteristics of Bai Mu Dan have one bud two leaves showing some bud tips. The bud tips of Bai Mu Dan with small leaf shell containing, is named Mu Dan Wang, or King of Mu Dan. Then they are both graded into three levels.
3. Gong Mei
Gong Mei was used to be a name for tea made by local vegetable tea, but not any more now. Nowadays, Gong Mei is the grade ranking right after Mu Dan, usually containing one bud multiple leaves (2-3), but no bud tips showing. It is also divided into two grades.
4. Shou Mei
Currently, Shou Mei has already merged into Gong Mei that any tea quality lower than Gong Mei are generally named Shou Mei.
By Farmer Management
Huang Tea (Barren Tea)
It used to be farmed before, but in recent years, no one is taking care of this tea any more.
Regular farmed tea (Tai Di Cha)
Organic tea
Wild tea
There is no wild tea in Fuding local area.
By Growing Altitude
High mountain tea
Tea growing 300 meter above sea level is called high mountain tea. But specialists said that the finer Fuding tea is from the mountain where the altitude between 500 to 600 meter above. The higher does not mean better quality.
Regular tea
By Region
Fuding local tea
Fuding is a small city that consisted of few towns, such as Bai Lin Town, Guan Yang Town or Hu Lin Village.
Foreign tea
Teas from Xia Pu, Shou Ning, Zhou Ning and Fu An, are not easy to be determined.
By Picking Time
Spring tea
Spring teas are divided to three time lines, which is earlier spring, 2nd spring and 3rd spring.
Summer tea
The quality of summer tea is relatively lower than others. Massive production comes from summer although they promoted not making summer tea.
Autumn Tea
The finer autumn teas are picked between White Dew and Cold Dew (mid Sept. to mid Oct.).
By Storing Year
New tea
New tea is made in current year or within three years.
Aged tea (old tea, Lao Cha)
More than three years aged tea.
By Form of Tea
Loose leaf tea
Pressed tea
Pressed tea includes different shapes of tea cake, tea brick, tuo tea, moon cake tea, cookie tea and so on.
By Processing
Traditional processing tea
Fulfilled by traditional sun-drying, natural withering.
Modern processing tea
Processed in the room for withering.
New processing tea
Adding twisting and fermentation during the processing to make white tea has a little fermentation scent of black tea.
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