BEHIND THE CRAFT
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Tea Craft: The Tea Bush

It all starts with an evergreen plant called Camellia Sinensis, which has 2 original subspecies, one from China and one from India.

The plant will grow to a tree if it is not pruned – there are ancient trees more than 100ft high in Yunnan - it flowers with delicate creamy petals, a little like an orange plant and the mature leaves are thick and shiny.

Camellia Sinensis Sinensis [the Chinese plant] likes the cooler temperatures found in higher altitudes [these were the bushes planted by the East India Company in Darjeeling foothills of the Himalayas] and they a productive life of about 100 years. The Indian ‘Assamica’ prefers the hot and humid conditions of the plains of the Brahmaputra River of Assam and has a shorter life.

Find out more about where tea is grown.

FGTE13284

Silver Cloud White Tea Pouch 50g

Net Weight: 50g

Grown on the Oodoowera estate of Ceylon, where it is said that the 'heavens touch the earth', our rare Silver Cloud white tea has lingering notes of honeydew and cantaloupe melons. Delicate, sophisticated.

The East India Company - Lifestyle

Tea

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£89.00
The leaves of the tea bushes are kept tender by the gentle mists which shroud the mountains. This tea is grown at the highest reaches of the Oodoowere Tea Estate, in the more eastern Uva tea region.

Collected by expert pickers use a velvet cloth to hold the precious tea buds, thus preserving the characteristic silvery-white fur. Processing is to the mininum required to preserve the tea buds.

To find out more about white tea and how it is made, see our Stories section below.
The long pointed tea buds are a stunning silvery colour.

In cup, the liquor is a delicate pale amber.

On the palate, a mild flavour but with complexity that lingers.

A true connoisser's tea to be savoured.
The long pointed tea buds are a stunning silvery colour.

In cup, the liquor is a delicate pale amber.

On the palate, a mild flavour but with complexity that lingers.

A true connoisseur's tea to be savoured.
Quantity

1 GRAM OF TEA LEAVES PER CUP

Temperature

200ML OF WATER AT 85ºC

Brewing Time

8 MINS FIRST BREW, 10 MINUTES SECOND BREW

Ingredients

Ceylon White Tea

Storage

Store in a cool, dry place avoiding direct sunlight and strong odours.

Stories

White Whiskers, White Tea

It doesn’t get much more simple that processing white tea.

White tea is named after the tiny white or silver hairs that cover the new bud on a tea plant - it is the bud which will soon unfurl to become the next young leaf.

On our White Tea product pages, if you zoom in on the tea picture, you will easily see these little whiskers. When looked at collectively, it creates a silver white sheen to the bud, hence the name.

So it is just the unopened buds or occasionally the bud and one or two of the very youngest leaves too that are picked and brought back to tea factory.
Very carefully handled to retain the integrity of the bud, they are simple dried in the sun or a drying room.

White teas are not fired like other teas, so they tend to retain a higher moisture content [therefore have a shorter shelf life]. There doesn’t seem to be a hard and fast rule about antioxidant or caffeine levels v green or black teas – whilst the white bud itself often carries a little more of both, the resulting brew tends to use cooler water for a shorter time than black, so the cup can often contain less.

Our spirit delivers no ordinary products

  • FAQ

    Does white tea include caffeine and is there more or less than green or black tea and coffee?
    Yes it does, and it varies. All tea leaves, just like coffee, contain caffeine. Tea usually has a lower level of caffeine than coffee, which averages around 95mg for a normal cup of coffee. But it is impossible to give a precise answer, because there are so many variables at play - the length of brew time, the amount of tea used, the age of the leaf, the provenance of the leaf. Even the temperature of the water. Our best advice is to treat all tea and coffee similarly if you need to manage your caffeine intake.

    I’ve heard that tea contains theanine. What is it and what does it do?
    Tea does indeed contain theanine, which is an amino acid [the building blocks of proteins]. Tea is one of only a few sources of theanine. It represents about 1% of dry weight and is at its highest concentrate in shade-grown teas like matcha and gyokuro. Whilst not yet proven in scientific studies that would permit specific health claims to be made, it is believed by many to be able to reduce mental and physical stress, promote relaxation and a sense of well-being. But not only that, it is more recently being thought to aid cognitive function. It’s one explanation for tea’s famous ability to create calm in a crisis [the Great British solution to all problems – ‘putting the kettle on’] and to stimulate when a little boost is required.

  • Delivery & Returns

    UK Standard Delivery: £3.95
    UK Next Day Delivery (mainland UK only): £9.95 (Order before 12pm)
    International Delivery is available, please see our delivery page for details. For more information and Terms & Conditions, please see our Delivery page.

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