Guangdong Shaoguan Bai Lu White Dew Chinese Green Tea

White Dew (Bai Lu) is the 15th of the 24 Chinese solar terms. It indicates that temperatures are decreasing. When the water vapor in the air cools at night, it condenses into tiny droplets attach to foliage and petals in the morning. They are crystal clear and flawless, hence the name White Dew. The tea picked before and after the Bailu term is called Bailu tea.

Where is Bailu tea good? After the sweltering heat of summer, the tea tree will enter the growth period after the beginning of autumn. Before and after the white dew, because the weather is getting cooler and the autumn is cool, the water vapor condenses on the tea tree at night to form dew, and the tea picked at this time is called "white dew tea". The tea of this season is not as fresh and tender as spring tea, nor is it as strong as summer tea, but has a unique sweet fragrance and full flavor.

This tea is somewhere between green tea and oolong tea. Bail Lu is made by steaming tea leaves – to quicken the heating process – and then drying them. This prevents the leaves from oxidizing too much and preserves the fresh flavor of the tea for a long time. What makes this tea unique from other green teas is that as the leaves are piled during production, the outer rim begins to brown, as this part is oxidized a little bit. So “green leave with a red rim” is a key feature of the tea.

Bai Lu has a more vegetal and grassy flavor with a slightly astringent and little bitter undertone. The scent is strongly orchid floral and complex, the flavor is smooth, mellow and has a sweet lingering finish. The large, green twisted leaves are beautifully sorted and can be steeped multiple times.