White Tea 白茶 bái chá

White tea production involves withering — laying freshly picked leaves out to rest for one to several days — then drying. No fixing, no rolling, no deliberate oxidation step. But during the long wither, a small amount of natural oxidation occurs as cell walls relax. It's minimal but real, and it produces the honey and hay notes that characterize the category. White tea isn't truly unoxidized; it's just unintentionally, gently oxidized. And because the oxidative enzymes were never deactivated, slow transformation continues for years — honey deepens, fresh hay becomes dried fruit. Aged white tea is a distinct and serious subgenre.