Anji Bai Cha
A Zhejiang green tea from a natural cultivar mutation whose spring leaves emerge pale, almost cream-coloured, before greening. Despite the name it is a green tea, not a white one — the 'bai' refers to the colour of the growing leaf, and the processing is ordinary pan-firing.
Character
Unusually sweet and savoury for a Chinese green tea, closer in that respect to a Japanese shaded tea than to Longjing, while retaining a pan-fired cleanness.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Umami, Vegetal
- Aroma
- Fresh
- Mouthfeel
- Light, Silky, Smooth
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- sweet pea, bamboo shoot, cream, light florals
- Aftertaste
- Notably sweet and clean, with a savoury edge.
Delicate intensity: light in the mouth with little grip. forgiving of a long steep.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Oxidation
- Unoxidised
- Harvest
- First flush
- Processing
- Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Drying
Authenticity: The name causes constant confusion with Fujian white tea. Anji Bai Cha is fixed by heat and is categorically a green tea; the resemblance to white tea is in the leaf’s appearance on the bush and nowhere else.
History
The albino parent bush was found in Anji county in 1980 and every plant in production descends from cuttings taken from it. A tea now grown across thousands of hectares traces to a single mutant plant found within living memory.
Brewing
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1.5–2.5 g/100 ml · 75–85 °C · 1 authored infusion
Grandpa style
0.5–1 g/100 ml · 75–85 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
3–4 g/100 ml · 75–85 °C · 4 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
Common mistakes
- Buying it expecting a white tea
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needle)
The name Anji Bai Cha means 'Anji white tea' and it is a green tea. The 'white' describes the pale leaf on the bush, not the processing.
- Junshan Yinzhen
Sweet, low-astringency bud teas with a grain-like softness, one yellow and one green.
- Anji Bai Cha supreme
Standard and earliest-picking grades of the same albino cultivar. The harvest window for the supreme grade is days, which is what the price reflects.
- Bai Mudan
'Anji Bai Cha' translates as Anji white tea and it is a green tea. Shoppers looking for Chinese white tea buy it by mistake regularly.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Mizudashi sencha
Shares 7 descriptors with Anji Bai Cha: sweet, vegetal, umami, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Karigane
Shares 6 descriptors with Anji Bai Cha: sweet, umami, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Bai Ji Guan
Shares 5 descriptors with Anji Bai Cha: sweet, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Enshi Yu Lu
Shares 5 descriptors with Anji Bai Cha: umami, vegetal, sweet, silky and fresh.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.
- Longjing vs Anji Bai Cha — Two flat-leaf Zhejiang green teas that look similar and taste quite different. One difference is shaping; the other is a cultivar mutation that changes the chemistry of the leaf.