I've just sampled a beautiful batch of Guangxi Ling Yun Bai Hao "White
Downy" tea. Highly aromatic and a very sweet taste. Some sources on the
net refer to this tea as a "green tea" whilst others mention it as a
"white tea". HELP, I'm puzzled.

It's a white tea from the name Bai Hao. It is also a YinZhen but they
use Ling Yun to identify the county in Guangxi. The links I saw talked
about a green infusion which is typical. I've seen arguments white tea
is from a particular plant in Fujian.

Jim

aloninna wrote:

"Space Cowboy" ix.netcom.com> writes:

Sorry, that doesn't follow. Bai Hao is a term that's used for lots of
different Chinese teas, including the heavily oxidized oolong also
known as Oriental Beauty.

/Lew

Technically you are right. BaiHao is used incorrectly where BaiYe is
nornally used for oolongs with a smattering of white tip or leaf.

Jim

"Space Cowboy" ix.netcom.com> writes:

So we're back to square one: the Guangxi Bai Hao could be either green
or white, unless someone can point out the exact processing method.

The only oolong I know that uses BaiHao is Oriental Beauty. You will
see BaiYe and BaiMao to describe teas with white tips. Kuri in an
earlier post said she was told by a Taiwan shop keeper to use BaiYe
because the Hao character is rare in Japanese. Maybe Mydnight can
mention if BaiHao is used synonymously with white teas or just a
generic term to mean white tip that can be present in white,green,red
levels of oxidation.

Jim

Lewis Perin wrote:

No. Guangxi Ling Yun is also referred to as Yinzhen or silver needles
which makes it a white tea. Some people might takes exception Yinzhen
only applies to white tea from Fujian ie besides little or no oxidation
it applies to a particular cultivar.

Jim

aloninna wrote:

"aloninna" gmail.com> writes:

I would reserve judgment on this, until someone can find some
testimony on how the Lingyun tea is actually made. You could tell
something from visual inspection of the dry leaves, but sometimes a
real white tea looks a lot like a stale green tea!

/Lew

More correctly would be YinHao to mean silver tips to make puer. Also
it is used for green teas with little oxidation. For many years I
thought it meant a superior version of Jasmine but it relates to the
style of the leaf and not the taste perse which is the only Jasmine
quality I can stand. I throw out the Bai and Yin terms as I understand
them from my purchases and research heretofore.

Jim

PS I buy regularly from Chinatown something called spring bud. It
looks like the same level of oxidation as my yummy Yunnan YinHao. Also
puer often uses Ya(Bud) in the place of Hao(Tip).

Lewis Perin wrote: