I saw it mentioned in a post today but I can't find the thread now. I've
never heard of it before and would appreciate it if someone could explain
it.

Giselle (new to this but just found a green tea I love)

"Volfie "Scary Poppins" Jackson" wrote:

I saw it mentioned in a post today but I can't find the thread now. I've
never heard of it before and would appreciate it if someone could explain
it.

Essentially a white is like a very delicate green. Whites undergo the least
processing of any kind of tea. They are made from young leaves that
are just simply dried.



--
Randy
(if replying by e-mail, remove SPAMFREE from my address)

While intrepidly exploring rec.food.drink.tea, RJP rolled
initiative and posted the following:

"Volfie "Scary Poppins" Jackson" wrote:

I saw it mentioned in a post today but I can't find the thread
now. I've never heard of it before and would appreciate it if
someone could explain it.

Essentially a white is like a very delicate green. Whites
undergo the least processing of any kind of tea. They are made
from young leaves that are just simply dried.

And, as such, are even more sensitive to heat. My Peony Blanc gets
steeped at a lower temp than my greens and for about twice as
long. It is, however, a very soothing final product and makes an
absolutely WONDERFUL iced tea on a hot summer day.



--
Derek

Leaders are like eagles. We don't have either of them here.

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 14:56:53 -0800, Volfie \Scary Poppins\ Jackson wrote:

I saw it mentioned in a post today but I can't find the thread now. I've
never heard of it before and would appreciate it if someone could
explain it.

Giselle (new to this but just found a green tea I love)

It's been my understanding that white tea is basically a green tea with
white down (fuzz) on the leaves.

I've heard it said that white tea has a mildly depressant quality, more
than being a stimulant.

White teas tend to have a lighter taste than green teas, which in turn
tend to be lighter than oolongs or blacks.

"Volfie \"Scary Poppins\" Jackson" writes:

I saw it mentioned in a post today but I can't find the thread now. I've
never heard of it before and would appreciate it if someone could explain
it.

Giselle (new to this but just found a green tea I love)

You should read the excellent FAQ for this group

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/drink/tea/faq/

This is not the tea FAQ's home page, but contains a copy of the FAQ,
along with many other FAQs and is an excellent site worth knowing
about. It has a link to the homepage, by Chistopher Roberson's, which
has other useful tea links.

Cheers,

- Joel

On 3/5/04 11:41 PM, in article
, "Dan Stromberg"
wrote:

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 14:56:53 -0800, Volfie \Scary Poppins\ Jackson wrote:

I saw it mentioned in a post today but I can't find the thread now. I've
never heard of it before and would appreciate it if someone could
explain it.

Giselle (new to this but just found a green tea I love)

It's been my understanding that white tea is basically a green tea with
white down (fuzz) on the leaves.

More than that - it is not green tea.

I've heard it said that white tea has a mildly depressant quality, more
than being a stimulant.

It does not have very much caffeine in it at all - I don't know about it
having depressant qualities, though.

White teas tend to have a lighter taste than green teas, which in turn
tend to be lighter than oolongs or blacks.

White tea tends to have a very complex taste, I wouldn't say it is weaker r
stronger than the other teas - really it is just different.

I once forgot about some white tea I had steeping - and it steepend for
about 10 minutes - and as I drank it it hardly had any bitterness, but was
quite strong!

If you can get some - enjoy it!

Bromo writes:

On 3/5/04 11:41 PM, in article
, "Dan Stromberg"
wrote:

I've heard it said that white tea has a mildly depressant quality, more
than being a stimulant.

It does not have very much caffeine in it at all

This is a MYTH! There is nothing in the way the other kinds of tea are
processed that could *introduce* caffeine. If anything, it might break
it down, but that doesn't happen either.

Holy Mountain Trading Company has an analysis of some of their teas,
and you'll see the white tea is right up there for caffeine content.

http://www.holymtn.com/tea/teacaffeine.htm

Cheers,

- Joel

Thanks for all the help and explanations, everyone!

Giselle (adding white tea to my next tea shopping list)

"Joel Reicher" wrote in message
...
I've heard it said that white tea has a mildly depressant
quality, more
than being a stimulant.

It does not have very much caffeine in it at all

This is a MYTH! There is nothing in the way the other kinds of
tea are
processed that could *introduce* caffeine. If anything, it
might break
it down, but that doesn't happen either.

I guess that's true enough, but white tea is usually made from
buds, and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is
lower than in leaves.

On 3/7/04 1:19 PM, in article , "Jon
Nossen" wrote:

"Joel Reicher" wrote in message
...
I've heard it said that white tea has a mildly depressant
quality, more
than being a stimulant.

It does not have very much caffeine in it at all

This is a MYTH! There is nothing in the way the other kinds of
tea are
processed that could *introduce* caffeine. If anything, it
might break
it down, but that doesn't happen either.

I guess that's true enough, but white tea is usually made from
buds, and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is
lower than in leaves.

I just looked it up - she is right - caffeine levels in tea is roughly the
same, though actual levels will depend upon steeping time.

"Jon Nossen" writes:

"Joel Reicher" wrote in message
...
I've heard it said that white tea has a mildly depressant
quality, more than being a stimulant.

It does not have very much caffeine in it at all

This is a MYTH! There is nothing in the way the other kinds of tea
are processed that could *introduce* caffeine. If anything, it
might break it down, but that doesn't happen either.

I guess that's true enough, but white tea is usually made from
buds,

No, it's *sometimes* made from buds. Silver Needles/Yinzhen yes,
White Peony/Bai Mudan/Pai Mutan no, Shou Mei no, etc. Some greens, by
the way, are bud-only.

and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is lower than
in leaves.

I don't think so, based on the small collection of numbers on the Holy
Mtn caffeine content page.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

"Lewis Perin" wrote in message
news
I guess that's true enough, but white tea is usually made
from
buds,

No, it's *sometimes* made from buds. Silver Needles/Yinzhen
yes,
White Peony/Bai Mudan/Pai Mutan no, Shou Mei no, etc. Some
greens, by
the way, are bud-only.

I thought the "lower quality" white teas like Baimudan was made
from buds *and* the first and/or second leaf of the stem. Are
you saying that is wrong?

and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is
lower than
in leaves.

I don't think so, based on the small collection of numbers on
the Holy
Mtn caffeine content page.

I'm not sure if that is a reliable source. Don't they state that
the teas they tested were made from tea bags? *Tea bags of white
tea*?

"Jon Nossen" writes:

"Lewis Perin" wrote in message
news
I guess that's true enough, but white tea is usually made from
buds,

No, it's *sometimes* made from buds. Silver Needles/Yinzhen yes,
White Peony/Bai Mudan/Pai Mutan no, Shou Mei no, etc. Some
greens, by the way, are bud-only.

I thought the "lower quality" white teas like Baimudan was made
from buds *and* the first and/or second leaf of the stem. Are
you saying that is wrong?

I'm saying buds in Bai Mudan are very rare experience.

and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is lower
than in leaves.

I don't think so, based on the small collection of numbers on the
Holy Mtn caffeine content page.

I'm not sure if that is a reliable source. Don't they state that
the teas they tested were made from tea bags? *Tea bags of white
tea*?

I'm unable to cerify those numbers independently, but I don't see any
reason to doubt them. I believe in tea-leaf freedom as much as
anyone, but I don't see why incarceration would invalidate the
caffeine figures.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

"Lewis Perin" wrote in message
news
and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is
lower
than in leaves.

I don't think so, based on the small collection of numbers
on the
Holy Mtn caffeine content page.

I'm not sure if that is a reliable source. Don't they state
that
the teas they tested were made from tea bags? *Tea bags of
white
tea*?

I'm unable to cerify those numbers independently, but I don't
see any
reason to doubt them. I believe in tea-leaf freedom as much
as
anyone, but I don't see why incarceration would invalidate the
caffeine figures.

Do tea bags with white tea actually exist? Seems like a very
strange animal to me.

According to the site, "The finely ground tea was extracted with
hot water."

So is the amount of caffeine in white tea consisting of *whole
leaves or buds* similar to the amount in *finely ground* tea?
Just wondering.

Jon /9/04


"Lewis Perin" wrote in message
news
and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is
lower
than in leaves.

I don't think so, based on the small collection of numbers
on the
Holy Mtn caffeine content page.

I'm not sure if that is a reliable source. Don't they state
that
the teas they tested were made from tea bags? *Tea bags of
white
tea*?

I'm unable to cerify those numbers independently, but I don't
see any
reason to doubt them. I believe in tea-leaf freedom as much
as
anyone, but I don't see why incarceration would invalidate the
caffeine figures.

Do tea bags with white tea actually exist? Seems like a very
strange animal to me.

According to the site, "The finely ground tea was extracted with
hot water."

So is the amount of caffeine in white tea consisting of *whole
leaves or buds* similar to the amount in *finely ground* tea?
Just wondering.




Jon,

I think consistency is the key here; we are getting an accurate reading of
*relative* amounts of caffeine from tea to tea, but not the specific amount
you might expect from *your" cup of tea. What we might be able to deduce
from the tables is that one tea has more caffeine than another, all other
things being equal. I'm highly skeptical about these tables and their value
anyway, having nowhere near the faith that Lew has. Regarding caffeine in
tea, I just keep asking until I get the answers I want. Then I stop.

Michael