Sue sent me some lovely tea for Christmas this year from a company in Australia called T2 (t2tea.com.au). The exotic loose leaf teas (buddhas tears, gyokuro, and pai mu tan) came in a stacking white matte tin -Â a great example of how good packaging makes something even more desirable. I love the packaging so much that I reassemble it and put it back in its box after each use. I also have old T2 packaging saved in my closet (another gift came wrapped in a Chinese newspaper wrapped in a strip of orange wax paper and tied with twine – one square sticker that said “T2” held the thing together).
According to my sister, white tea is all the rage in Asia and Australia right now. And according to wikipedia, white tea has more anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties than green tea.
This wikipedia article explains what white tea is:
“White tea is tea made from new growth buds and young leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis. The leaves are steamed or fried to inactivate oxidation, and then dried. White tea therefore retains the high concentrations of catechins which are present in fresh tea leaves. The buds may also be shielded from sunlight during growth to reduce formation of chlorophyll. White tea is a specialty of the Chinese province Fujian.
White tea is made from less mature leaves than green tea, and has undergone less processing, resulting in different catechin profiles and yielding greater medicinal qualities in some trials. For white tea, the little buds that form on the plant are covered with silver hairs that give the young leaves a white appearance.”