Tea MasterHow to brew white tea
Match the water to the leaf: Silver Needle at 82 °C (180 °F), White Peony at 88–90 °C (190–194 °F) and Shou Mei at 95–98 °C (203–208 °F). In a mug or teapot use 1.6–2 g of leaf per 100 ml and steep for 3–5 minutes. Gongfu style use 3–4 g per 100 ml, start with 10–20 second steeps and expect 7–8 infusions. White tea is fluffy, so weigh it: a teaspoon holds far less than you think.
White tea brewing chart
| Tea | Gongfu | Mug or teapot | Cold brew |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen) | 82 °C (180 °F), 3 g per 100 ml, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 70, 90 s | 82 °C (180 °F), 1.6 g per 100 ml, 3–5 min | 1.2 g per 100 ml, 6 h |
| White Peony (Bai Mu Dan) | 90 °C (194 °F), 3 g, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90 s | 88 °C (190 °F), 2 g, 3–4 min | 1.2 g, 6 h |
| Shou Mei | 98 °C (208 °F), 4 g, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 s | 95 °C (203 °F), 2 g, 3–5 min | 1.3 g, 8 h |
| Moonlight White (Yue Guang Bai) | 88 °C (190 °F), 3 g, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90 s | 85 °C (185 °F), 1.6 g, 3–4 min | 1.2 g, 6 h |
For a 250 ml (8 oz) mug that is 4 g of Silver Needle or 5 g of White Peony or Shou Mei. Cold brew steeps in the fridge at about 4 °C (39 °F).
The main types of white tea
- Silver Needle: only the downy buds. Pale, sweet, honeyed and delicate. It needs the coolest water of the white teas.
- White Peony: a bud with one or two young leaves. Fuller and more floral than Silver Needle, and more forgiving.
- Shou Mei: later, larger leaves, darker in colour, with a fruity, woody taste. It takes near-boiling water and is often pressed into cakes and aged.
- Moonlight White: a Yunnan white tea with dark and silver leaves, honeyed and fuller-bodied than White Peony.
The rule of thumb: the more bud and the paler the leaf, the cooler the water. The darker and leafier, the hotter.
How to brew white tea in a mug or teapot
- Heat the water: 82 °C (180 °F) for Silver Needle, 85–88 °C for Moonlight White and White Peony, 95 °C (203 °F) for Shou Mei.
- Weigh the leaf: 1.6 g per 100 ml for Silver Needle and Moonlight White, 2 g for White Peony and Shou Mei. Use a scale; a heaped tablespoon of loose white tea may weigh only 1–2 g.
- Warm the pot, add the leaf and pour.
- Steep 3–5 minutes for Silver Needle and Shou Mei, 3–4 minutes for White Peony and Moonlight White.
- Strain completely and re-steep: Silver Needle and Shou Mei give 3–4 rounds, White Peony and Moonlight White 2–3. Add about a minute each time.
How to brew white tea gongfu style
- Warm a 100–150 ml gaiwan or small teapot with hot water.
- Add 3 g of leaf per 100 ml, or 4 g for Shou Mei. Loose white tea fills a gaiwan to the top; that is normal.
- Skip the rinse for Silver Needle and Moonlight White. For White Peony and Shou Mei a 5 second rinse is optional.
- First steep: 20 seconds for Silver Needle, 10 seconds for the others. Pour off every drop.
- Follow the schedule in the chart. Silver Needle gives about 7 steeps, Shou Mei about 8.
Porcelain or glass shows off the pale liquor of Silver Needle; a clay pot suits Shou Mei. The method is covered in more detail in gongfu tea brewing.
How to brew a white tea cake
Pressed white tea, usually Shou Mei or White Peony, is brewed much like a pu-erh cake. Slide a tea knife or pick into the side of the cake and lever off layers rather than crumbling it. Use about 4 g per 100 ml in a gaiwan with water close to boiling, 95–98 °C.
Do a quick 5 second rinse to help the compressed leaf open, and give the first one or two steeps a few extra seconds while the chunks loosen. Aged cakes can go on for many steeps. Once spent, the leaves can be simmered in a small pot for a few minutes for a sweet last cup. For more on pressed tea, see how to brew pu-erh.
Cold brew white tea
White tea is one of the best teas for cold brewing. Put 1.2 g of Silver Needle, White Peony or Moonlight White per 100 ml of cold water in a jar, about 12 g per litre, and leave it in the fridge for 6 hours. Shou Mei takes 1.3 g and 8 hours. Strain and keep it chilled. The result is sweet, smooth and almost never bitter. Full method in cold brew tea.
Common mistakes
- Measuring by teaspoon. White tea is so light that a teaspoon often holds under 1 g. Weigh it, see how much tea per cup.
- Water too cool for Shou Mei. At 80 °C it tastes thin. It wants 95–98 °C.
- Boiling water for Silver Needle. It survives, but cooler water at 82 °C keeps it sweet.
- Steeps too short in a mug. White tea brews slowly. Three minutes is the minimum, five is fine.
- Judging by colour. Silver Needle stays pale yellow even at full strength.
Some charts suggest 70 °C (158 °F) for all white tea. That suits light, broken white tea and bags: about 0.5 g per 100 ml for 3 minutes, which is the generic White Tea profile in Tea Master. Whole-leaf Silver Needle, White Peony and Shou Mei taste fuller with the hotter water above.
