Thursday 15 March 2012

Buddha Tears Tea: Exquisite Floral Luxury in a Cup

White tea is made from the unopened bud and your leaves of the Chinese Camellia sinensis plant. The unopened buds have characteristic white hairs which gives the tea its name. White tea is lightly oxidised, compared to other teas like black and green, giving it that characteristic flavour found only in white teas.

Perhaps the most popular of white teas is the Jasmine Dragon Pearl Tea (also known as Buddha Tears Tea or Downy Pearls Tea) as it has a light and enchanting floral fragrance.

As white tea comes from the same Camellia sinensis plant as green tea, black tea, and other teas, it also shares health benefits found in others like antioxidants and cancer fighting properties.

Those who are new to drinking tea may be wondering why most tea addicts prefer loose teas compared to tea bags. Here’s a short explanation:

Loose leaf tea are whole tea leaves packed lightly in containers as compared to tea pre-packed in individual bags that instead contain broken leaves or fannings. While broken tea leaves brew quicker, they lack the fuller flavour found in whole tea leaves, hence the preference of many for loose leaf tea.

There is also the issue of water circulation which can also affect the flavour of your tea. Water circulation happens less in the tight space of a tea bag as compared to loosely floating tea leaves.

However, there are also high quality bagged teas which can have the same flavour found in loose teas. Bagged teas made of whole leaves are also available but you do need to do some research to find a supplier for these as most bagged teas sold in the supermarket are mostly regular grade teas.

Buddha Tears Tea, with its light jasmine flavour, can be found in both loose tea and bagged tea varieties. You can also find Buddha Tears Tea made with green tea but the white kind has a more luxurious taste.