Best white tea UK
Which is the best white tea in 2024?
VIEW OFFERBest of 2024: Find the right white tea in the UK
The best white teas are a wonder to behold. Offering a smooth and refined taste that is undeniably pleasant, there is a lot to love about a great white tea. However, finding a quality white tea is often easier said than done. The range of options and limited regulations can make finding a good white tea challenging, especially if you are unsure what to look for. To help with this, we have created a handy buying guide for finding the best white teas. It covers all the information you need to know, including what to look for and how to find the best quality, ensuring you find the perfect white tea.
The 10 best white teas in the UK (September 2024)
The bestseller list compares white teas from multiple brands
- Organic: Non-GM, soil-association approved organic ingredients, plastic-free packaging.
- Ethics: Plant-based, ethically sourced, no artificial ingredients, no caffeine.
- Quality: Natural source of antioxidants, light, delicious, and highly refreshing.
- Quantity: Six boxes with a total of 156 white tea bags.
- Sustainability: Ethically sourced, plastic-free, unbleached tea bags.
- Quality: Natural, organic tea with no artificial ingredients or GMOs.
- Flavor: Luxurious, thick and fruity, lightly fermented loose tea.
- Health: Rich in antioxidants, promotes skin health, and strengthens bones.
- Quality: Exceptional, traditionally made Chinese white tea from Yunnan Province.
- Delicate: Elegant white tea with a mellow, delicate infusion and lightly nutty taste.
- Planet: Our superior-grade Swirling Mist white tea is organically grown and plastic-free.
- Quality: Experience authentic ‘Bai Mudan’ style white tea with single buds and two leaves.
- Packaging: Biodegradable, plastic-free, resealable pouch.
- Oxidation: Naturally oxidized leaves with soft floral tones.
- Quality: Sweet, mellow flavor with Silver Needle shoot and tender young leaves.
- Quality: Exquisite, first tender leaf-buds, soft and delicate.
- Fairness: Directly sourced, fairly traded, supports education.
- Purity: Least processed, high in antioxidants.
- Sustainability: Compostable tea bags, boxes, and outer packaging from English Tea Shop.
- Variety: Almost 30 tea blends in the "Your Everyday Tea" collection.
- Quality: High-quality Ceylon and Chinese white tea with blueberries and elderflowers.
- Ethics: Consciously sourced, blended, and packed in the UK.
- Origin: Sourced from China, the traditional home of white tea.
- Quality: Light, refreshing organic tea from young buds and leaves.
- Purity: Free from additives and artificial ingredients.
- Quality: Offers premium, delicate flavors unique to white tea.
- Origin: Sourced and produced within the United States.
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- Read the definitive white tea buying guide
- View the white tea picks and see how they rank in the top list
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white tea buying guide
Do you want to buy a good white tea? This is all you need to know.
A short explanation: What are white teas?
White tea is a variety of tea made from the Camellia sinensis plant, which is the same plant used to make green tea and black tea. The name comes from the fine silvery-white hairs on the unopened tea buds, which is used to make the tea. Unlike black and green tea, the white tea leaves are quickly dried after being picked to prevent oxidization, with the tea brewed from these leaves producing a much lighter colour and flavour.
What are the benefits of good teas?
The best white teas result in a beverage that is both refreshing and enjoyable to drink. But part of the enjoyment from this type of tea comes from its positive effects on the body. For instance, white tea is believed to have higher levels of antioxidants than green or black tea, which can help to remove toxins from the body and support the immune system. The low caffeine content in white tea makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking to reduce their intake, while the tea itself provides a range of health benefits like reducing inflammation and fighting infection.
How to choose the best white tea in 2024?
Are you interested in the best brewed white teas but have no idea how to make a choice? Here are some things to look out for when choosing a good white tea:
- Origin: White tea is grown in several countries across the globe, including India, China, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, with teas from different regions offering unique flavours and properties, so it is a good idea to choose one that matches your preferences. For example, Chinese white tea has a subtle aroma that many people find appealing.
- Blended vs. Unblended: White teas are often blended with other herbs and spices to produce unique flavours, so be sure to decide whether you want an unblended or blended tea. The original white tea has a unique flavour that many find pleasant, although it is an acquired taste, so many beginners prefer a blended white tea, with popular ingredients like vanilla used.
- Caffeine Strength: White tea has the lowest caffeine concentration of all teas, specifically because it only uses the newest leaves that have yet to open, which contain the least caffeine. While not as low as herbal teas, white tea’s caffeine is minimal when compared to green and black teas. However, if you want less caffeine, double-check that the white tea is not blended with ingredients that contain caffeine!
Which types of white teas are available to buy in the UK?
There are many popular types of white tea, all of which offer a delicious flavour and in some cases, added functionality!
- Silver Needle Tea: Often viewed as the best white tea type, silver needle features only the unopened leaf buds of the tea plant, which results in a very soft and subtle tea that has a pleasant sweet undertone.
- White Peony Tea: Made from the new leaf buds as well as the tea plant’s inner leaf, white peony tea is considered one of the stronger white teas (though this is relative as white tea is generally weaker than other types). It also has a pleasant nutty undertone to its flavour.
- Shou Mei Tea: A great white tea to start out within, shou mei tea is one of the most affordable white teas available. It’s made from more mature leaves of the tea plant, resulting in a much earthier tea with a strength that is generally milder than most black teas.