Moonlight White

Yue Guang Bai or Moonlight White tea hails from a hundred-year-old tea trees in Yunnan. The tea is picked and dried indoors with hot air. Withering fresh leaves and drying them this way takes longer than sun-drying but imparts an extra level of oxidation and sweetness to the tea.

Moonlight White is suitable for aging, and its flavor will evolve over time, gradually becoming darker and closer in taste to a sweet black tea.

Packaging:
€5.00

Tea Character

Leaf Aroma

Leaf Aroma

hay, autumn leaves

Cup Aroma

Cup Aroma

rye bread, roasted coconut, chrysanthemum

Flavor

Flavor

vanilla pudding, hay, coconut cream

Tea Story

Yue Guang Bai, or White Moonlight tea, is harvested in the early days of April and undergoes minimal processing, preserving the delicate nature typical of white teas. There’s an old legend in Yunnan that tells of young women gathering under a full moon to pick the tea leaves, lending the tea its poetic names: "Yue Guang Bai" (月光白 – White Moon) and "Mei Ren" (美人 – Beauty).

The magic of Yue Guang Bai happens after the harvest. The leaves are withered indoors and then dried overnight, avoiding the direct heat of ovens or the mechanical force of rolling. This gentle treatment shields the leaves from sunlight, allowing them to develop a rich concentration of amino acids.

This tea is grown high in the mountains at 1,300 meters above sea level, near Pu'er City in Yunnan, China. Historically, the production of Yue Guang Bai involved the leaves of the Camellia Taliensis plant, a close relative of the Assamica variety. This species, once abundant, has become endangered due to over-harvesting.

Today, to preserve this tradition, farmers carefully select leaves from the Camellia Sinensis var. Assamica, known locally as Da Ye Zhong (大叶种) for its characteristically large leaves. Left to grow wild, these trees can reach impressive heights, with thick trunks and broad, sturdy leaves. The Assamica variety used in Yue Guang Bai is known for its slightly higher caffeine content compared to other tea plants, giving the tea a gentle yet persistent energy that both soothes and sharpens the mind.

Yue Guang Bai is often compared to raw puerh, another tea from Yunnan that shares a common ancestry. Both are made from the same tea trees, and like puerh, White Moonlight tea can be enjoyed as loose leaves or pressed into cakes for aging. As time passes, the tea’s flavor continues to evolve, becoming richer and more complex.

Tea Origin

Tea Region | Zheng Wan village, Puerh, Simao, Yunnan, China
Cultivar | Xue Ya #100
Picking & processing | One bud, one leaf
Harvest | Spring, 2024

How To Brew

Traditional Brew

Temperature
85°C
Weight
5g
Water
100ml
Time
30 sec · up to 6 steeps

Western Brew

Temperature
85°C
Weight
3g
Water
500ml
Time
3 min · up to 3 steeps