White tea, classified among the 6 tea categories, is uniquely captivating due to its simplicity in production. Crafted from the withering, drying, and careful plucking of fresh leaves from local tea plants, white tea boasts a timeless quality that sets it apart. In the world of white tea, you’ll encounter both new and aged varieties, each revealing distinctive characteristics through the passage of time.

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With the change in storage time of white tea, we can see the following changes in appearance:

Tea color: from gray-green, dark green, to brown, yellow-brown

Tea soup color: from the tea soup yellow green majority, apricot yellow, into orange yellow, amber.

Tea taste: from fresh, quiet, into alcohol and warm, and sweet.

So, with the increase of years, what changes in the internal substances of white tea?

4 Major Changes In White Tea While Increase Of Aging

1、 Water extract

With the increase of years, the content of water extract in Shoumei decreases, and the precipitation of water extract also slows down when brewing white tea, which is one of the reasons why the old white tea should wake up and the older the more resistant to brewing.

The soluble sugar content of white tea in different years changed a little, so the new white tea and the old white tea will be mellow and sweet.

2、 Tea polyphenols

The content of tea polyphenols decreased with the increase of years, and the proportion of tea polyphenols was the highest, The content of tea pigments also decreased year by year, it was one of the sources of bitterness and astringency of white tea.

So while age years, for the older the white tea, will have a lower bitter and astringent feeling, a more mellow taste, and a more obvious return of sweetness.

However, flavonoids in tea polyphenols did not decrease with the decrease of tea polyphenols content;

Flavonoids are the main components of tea with health functions, which is one of the reasons why old white tea is more popular and expensive.

3、 Amino acids

Amino acids are mainly responsible for the freshness and sweetness of the tea. Generally, the content of free amino acids in tea is 2 ~ 3%, or even lower.

However, the content of free amino acids in Shoumei was twice as much as that in other teas, with the highest value of 6.62%, and then decreased rapidly in the third year, and then gradually stabilized.

In addition, we need to understand that old white tea also has freshness, but the freshness is reduced;

When drinking, it is easy to be covered by other aromas and tastes, which are not easy to drink. However, compared with other tea types, the amino acid content of old white tea is still the highest.

4、 Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system of the human body, and is also one of the sources of the bitterness of white tea;

The content of caffeine does not change very much. In tea soup, the content of caffeine needs to reach a certain level before the human body can perceive it. When we drink white tea, we feel bitter.

If you want to reduce caffeine in tea soup, you can reduce the tea leaves amount when brewing.

Summary

During the storage of white tea, polyphenols, caffeine, amino acids, and other substances are constantly less, while flavonoids are increasing.

But the premise is that in a certain period, although white tea can be stored for a long time, raw materials, storage methods, and technology are indispensable.

Finally, white tea is not always the older the better. It is like human beings will experience puberty, middle age, and old age. Beyond the limit, its nutritional components will decline.

But each stage has its characteristics. Just like our growth, each stage is unique and valuable.