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White tea is much less common than the three other main tea types (Black tea, Green tea and Oolong tea). Green tea is often described as a tea that undergoes hardly any processing, but White tea is actually even less processed than Green tea. The taste and properties of a tea will be highly affected by the preparation process and especially the extent of the oxidation process. Black tea is the most heavily oxidized tea, followed by Oolong tea, Green tea and finally White tea.

White tea is believed to be the original type of tea since it requires a minimum of processing. Since it is only dried, not oxidized, it will keep most of its original taste and White tea has a grassy flavor. It has very low caffeine content, and is probably the tea type with the highest amount of antioxidants. White tea will not loose the high level of catechins (a group of potent anti-oxidants) found in fresh leaves from the tea plant Camellia sinensis.

Almost all the white tea variants are produced in China, but you can get high quality White tea from other regions of the world as well, including Sri Lanka/Ceylon and Darjeeling in India. In China, the White teas from the province Fujian are especially treasured.

One of the most highly esteemed White teas is the Bai Hao Yinzhen tea from the Fujian province. This tea should ideally be made from buds that have been picked between March 15 and April 10. Only whole and unopened buds should be used for supreme quality Bai Hao Yinzhen tea. This tea has exceedingly low caffeine content.