Description

Moonlight white tea or Yue Guang Bai Tea is a particular style of tea originating in China’s Yunnan province. Although we classify Moonlight White as a white tea, and its Chinese name contains the word white (bai/白), it is sometimes classified as Pu-erh. This Tea is a semi-oxidized tea, but its production process is fundamentally different from oolongs.

This tea is sometimes classified as a pu-erh due to production methods. Generally we think that it is still a white tea since it has been left loose. If this tea was pressed into bricks, we would be more inclined to call it a pu-erh tea.

Moonlight white is sometimes sold in compressed cakes like Pu-erh although it is also sold in loose-leaf form and consumed sooner after production. We classify it as a white tea because its production involves withering and drying like other white teas, and its character resembles other white teas to a large degree, although its processing differs from that of other white teas in some ways.

Summary

Flavor \taste note: Floral, sweet and mellow

Dried leaves: Made from ‘one bud and two leaves’ it has a mix of soft, plump needle tips and small, young leaves which are dark on one side and pale with fine silvery hairs on the other

Liquor: Golden yellow

Brewed Tealeaves: Tender brown two leaves with one bud

The fragrance of the dry tea leaves is fresh and the infusion tastes smooth, sweet, soft with woody notes, fruity and floral aspects to the flavor. The aroma and texture of this tea remind one of an aged white tea. Yue Guang Bai also has this very recognisable pu erh flavor from Yunnan province.

Brew the tea with boiling water for 15-20 seconds and serve. Increase the steeping time by 5 seconds for every next infusion. Typical White Moonlight can be brewed 8 to 10 times.