Compare two teas
Side by side across seven dimensions. There is no verdict and no winner — the purpose is to understand the difference, not to be told which to buy.
TeaHQ has written about this pair
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.
- The plant
- Longjing: Conventional green-tea cultivars — Longjing 43, Zhongcha 108 or old seed-grown stock.Anji Bai Cha: Bai Ye Yi Hao, an albino mutant whose shoots emerge nearly white in cold spring weather.
- Why it looks the way it does
- Longjing: Pressed flat by hand against a heated wok during pan-firing.Anji Bai Cha: Naturally narrow and pale; the flatness is far less pronounced and less deliberate.
- Flavour
- Longjing: Toasted chestnut and fresh grass, from direct contact with the hot pan.Anji Bai Cha: Sweet pea and bamboo, with a savoury depth and almost no bitterness.
- Why they differ chemically
- Longjing: Ordinary catechin-to-amino-acid balance for a spring green tea.Anji Bai Cha: The chlorophyll deficiency raises amino acids relative to catechins, which is the direct cause of the sweetness.
- Harvest window
- Longjing: Several weeks, with the pre-Qingming picking the most prized.Anji Bai Cha: Days rather than weeks — the leaves green as temperatures rise and the character is lost.
- Is it a white tea
- Longjing: No, and nobody claims it is.Anji Bai Cha: No, despite 'bai cha' in the name. The reference is to leaf colour, not to white-tea processing.
In summary: Longjing is nutty and Anji Bai Cha is sweet and savoury. Someone who finds green tea bitter will usually get on better with the second.
Point by point
| Dimension | Longjing | Anji Bai Cha |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Green tea · unoxidised | Green tea · unoxidised |
| Production | In order: Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Drying. bud and one leaf and first flush harvest. | In order: Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Drying. bud and one leaf and first flush harvest. |
| Origin | China — Protected designation: West Lake Longjing carries a Chinese protected-origin designation restricted to a defined area of Hangzhou. | China |
| Flavour | nutty, sweet and vegetal. light and smooth in the mouth. Aroma: roasted chestnut, toasted rice, orchid, fresh beans. Moderate in character. Moderate in intensity. | sweet, umami and vegetal. light, silky and smooth in the mouth. Aroma: sweet pea, bamboo shoot, cream, light florals. Moderate in character. Delicate in intensity. |
| Brewing | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 120s. Grandpa style: 0.5–1 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 180s. Cold brew tea: 1–2 g/100 ml at 4–10 °C, first steep 21600s. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 120s. Grandpa style: 0.5–1 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 180s. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. |
| Cultural context | Used in Chinese tea house culture and Longjing and the spring tea season. Far more tea is sold as West Lake Longjing than that small protected area could produce. Longjing made elsewhere in Zhejiang is legitimate tea under a broader name, and is frequently very good; the price difference between it and the protected designation is very large. | 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. |
| Who may prefer it | Someone who wants presence without being dominated and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. | Someone who prefers a quiet cup they can drink through an afternoon and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. |
Nothing above is a recommendation. The last row describes the drinker each tea suits, using each tea’s own authored fields and the same sentence structure for both, so neither can be framed as the safe choice.