Why Is White Tea So Fragile? The Main Reasons Explained Clearly
Why is white tea, once it reaches your hands,
so fragile?
Is the tea quality poor,
or is the storage method wrong?
Perhaps the answer you are looking for is right here!
By | Xiao Bai
01
Early in the morning, I was woken up by Old Bai to help prepare the various types of packaging supplies that would be needed in a few days.
Plastic bags, aluminum bags, and cardboard boxes, none of them can be left out. Only in this way can the autumn white tea withstand the long journey ahead!
While I was busy beyond words, a message sent by a tea friend caught Xiao Bai's attention.
It turned out that this tea friend was afraid this year's autumn tea would not survive transport, would be damaged too badly along the way, and would arrive as nothing but broken bits!
Indeed, whether it is new tea or aged tea, once it is in your hand, even a little force makes it break easily.
Some tea friends even suspect that there is something wrong with the quality of the tea.
Therefore, Xiao Bai feels it is necessary to answer for tea friends: why exactly is white tea so fragile, and is quality really to blame?
02
White tea is especially fragile. Why is this related to moisture content?
Who among tea drinkers does not hope that the tea leaves they brew will have intact leaves with no broken bits?
However, some tea friends find when brewing white tea that after the tea is taken out, it has all turned into broken bits. What pleasure is there in brewing tea like that!
So some people begin to guess whether there is something wrong with the quality of this tea, which is why it is so fragile.
On this point, Xiao Bai really has to say "wronged!" on behalf of white tea.
In fact, the fragility of white tea cannot be separated from the moisture content of the leaves.
According to current national standard requirements, the moisture content of white tea during production cannot exceed 8.5%, which actually lowers the threshold for making white tea.
However, to ensure long-term storage, Xiao Bai's family controls the moisture content below 7%.
From this, one can see that after white tea is made, it is in fact very dry!
Just like fallen leaves drifting down from trees in autumn, compared with fresh leaves growing on trees in spring, fallen leaves are certainly easier to crumble!
Therefore, white tea in your hands is also very easy to break.
03
Then why is Baihao Yinzhen not easy to break?
In fact, among the three varieties of white tea, not every one is very easy to break. Yinzhen is the exception!
Tea friends must not think that Yinzhen is not easy to break because its moisture content exceeded the standard during production. That would be an enormous injustice.
Place Yinzhen together with Mudan and Shoumei, press them with the same amount of force, and you will find that the latter two break more easily.
This is because Yinzhen consists mainly of buds, wrapped layer upon layer in small leaves, stacked just like spring bamboo shoots.
So folding it in half and snapping it is easy, but crushing it is very difficult.
But Mudan and Shoumei have leaves, so after withering and drying, the leaves also appear very fragile!
This is also why, when tea friends brew white tea, the ones that break easily are mostly Mudan and Shoumei.
04
How should white tea be stored so it does not break easily?
We need to understand that the main reason white tea breaks easily is that it is subjected to external pressure during transport and storage.
After tea friends receive the tea, they are originally full of joy and preparing to brew it, only to open the package and see a lot of broken bits.
Then they certainly have no mood to drink tea!
This is mainly because during transport, white tea does not get good protection, gets knocked about all along the way, and in the end complete dry tea leaves are bound to become broken bits.
But tea friends can rest assured about Xiao Bai's family's white tea, because before transport Xiao Bai carefully packs it whole.
This prevents the tea from being bumped by the outside and suffering large-scale damage.
Second, tea friends need to be extra careful when storing white tea!
Because during storage, external pressure can instantly turn white tea into broken bits, so it is still best to use the standard storage method.
Use aluminum bags, plastic bags, and cardboard boxes for sealed storage, and because cardboard boxes have a certain load-bearing capacity, they can best ensure the safety of the tea when used!
05
White tea being fragile does not mean its quality is poor. On the contrary, it is a sign that the tea's dryness has reached the standard.
And after the workings of time, the final transformation of such tea is bound to be surprising.
At the same time, tea friends should not disdain broken white tea too much, because for it, even if broken, the taste and aroma are still there!
On the contrary, for those white teas that are highly flexible and not easy to snap or crush, you should be more wary, because such white tea may have a moisture content that does not meet the standard, and then no matter how you store it, it will be of no help.
Alright, I hope what Xiao Bai has said today will give tea friends new help in understanding white tea~
To learn more about white tea knowledge,
welcome to follow the WeChat public account [Riquan Tea Factory, public account ID: 15659252304]