Yue Guang Bai White Tea

White teas are desired for their subtle, yet complex and unique flavor profiles. As a category, white teas vary greatly and are the least processed when compared to even green teas or lighter oolong teas.

Yue Guang Bai white tea is specifically desired for its range of flavor notes, including: floral, fruity, apricot, rich and malty. The strength of each flavor will change with time as the tea ages.

What is Yue Guang Bai tea?

"Yue Guang Bai" translates to "Moonlight White", and is a reference to traditional methods of drying this tea during the evening under the "moonlight". While moonlight isn't a requirement for this tea, processing at nighttime does help to minimize the amount of sunlight the leaves.

A key characteristic of the processing method is that the tea leaves are delicately air dried (often indoors, depending on the climate and producer). Additionally, this tea is not processed with direct heat in the fixation or enzyme-killing step that is used for most other categories of tea as a way to control oxidation levels.

As a result, the flavor of this tea changes as it ages. We can expect the fresh notes to become more crisp, and the rich malty notes to increase over time.

How to enjoy Yue Guang Bai tea

Yue Guang Bai white tea is full of rich flavors that can fit a wide range of drinking styles and situations. When brewed grandpa style or gongfu cha style it often still has flavor after 5 or 6 steeps, allowing one to appreciate the different flavor notes across each steep.

Please note that Yue Guang Bai, like other white teas, tend to do best when brewed gently - use less heat OR shorter steep time, depending on your method.

Brewed overnight as a cold brew (or to get one last steep out of your grandpa style) and it can be really refreshing in the same way a cold jasmine green tea is. It's floral, fruity, and apricot notes make it go great with fruit as a refreshing iced tea and would go great with a homemade peach puree.

-Ricky, Co-Founder of Camellia Rd Tea Bar

Author's note: My personal favorite way to enjoy this tea is brewed at 180F for several minutes, then with a healthy amount organic cane sugar to really bring out the fruity flavors. I chill it completely, then pour it over a cup of ice. It's so great as an iced tea!