white tea

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English

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Etymology

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Calque of Chinese 白茶 (báichá).

Noun

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white tea (countable and uncountable, plural white teas)

  1. The leaves of a tea plant which have been processed in a manner to let them wilt slightly and lose their "grassy" taste of green tea while undergoing minimal oxidation.
    Coordinate terms: black tea, green tea, yellow tea
  2. A drink brewed from these tea leaves.
    Coordinate terms: black tea, green tea, yellow tea
  3. Black tea served with milk.
  4. Boiled water; hot water served as a hot beverage.
    • 2006, Paul Theroux, Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China, →ISBN, page 314:
      The young men from Hong Kong shivered in the compartment like prisoners in a dungeon. They drank hot water. I offered them some of my green tea (Zhulan brand: "A tea from ancient kings for those with kingly tastes") but they said no; they preferred drinking hot water. "White tea," the Chinese call it, bai cha.

Translations

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Further reading

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