White Tea vs. Green Tea

There is a growing trend of drinking white tea over green tea.

White tea used to be reserved for VIPs in China. However, these days you can buy white tea in most good tea specialists.

Buying white tea and green tea is quite similar – freshness is key.

Green tea vs White tea:
They both come from the same tea plant, Camellia Sinensis.

White tea is made from the buds and/or leaves, green tea is only made with leaves.

White tea is generally more expensive than green tea due to its limited harvest. To buy a good Silver Needle white tea can cost several hundred US or Australian dollars per kg.

White tea is harvested at an earlier age of the plant, while green tea is harvested a little later. White tea such as the top notch Silver Needle is rare with limited production, hence much more expensive.

Though they both came from the same plant, white tea is lightly processed which only involves withering and drying (could be air drying, solar drying or mechanical drying).

Green tea, on the other hand, has a little more processing using either artisanal (Sun-drying, basket or charcoal firing, or pan-firing) or modern methods (Oven-drying, tumbling, or steaming).

White tea does contain caffeine – 15mg approximately, while green tea contains 20mg caffeine approximately.

Caffeine content will depend on the exact tea as well as brewing temperature and time, as caffeine is water soluble.

As to the taste, white tea has a sweet, smooth and subtle taste while green tea’s taste is stronger and grassier.

Since both white tea and green tea come from the same plant, they both share similar properties and health benefits of tea but considering the fact that white tea is less processed, it contains more antioxidants as compared to the others.

Genmaicha

Antioxidants is known to improve cardiovascular function and the Catechins, a flavan-3-ol, a type of natural phenol and antioxidant found in tea(wikipedia.org), is found to reduce cholesterol, helps in the functioning of the blood vessels and decrease the blood pressure.

Furthermore, study reveals that white tea can help boost the immune system.

Green tea also contains the same composition as white tea; it includes a variety of amino acids, polyphenols, vitamins, lipids, caffeine and other related compounds.

Green tea is known to lower blood pressure as well as cholesterol levels. Study shows that green tea can reduce body fat and may help in reducing cardiovascular disease.

Some of the most popular white teas are:

• Jasmine Dragon Pearls
• Silver Needle
• Organic Pai Mu Tan
• Sow Mee
• Clarity

Some of the most popular green teas are:

• Gunpowder
• Organic Bancha
• Jasmine Green Tea
• Australian Sencha

Deciding which tea is better will depend ultimately on the person who is drinking it – YOU. Some people find drinking green tea too acidic, and white tea is ok, and vice versa.

So, if you prefer a smoother and subtler taste for your cuppa, then white tea is your choice but if you like it strong and grassy, then green tea is the cup for you.