What is white tea?

When one says I like my tea white, it usually means they like it with plenty of milk, but there is another kind of white tea.

White Tea is made from the Camellia Sinensis plant, he same plant as Black, Green and Oolong Teas, but the way the leaves are treated makes all the difference. Whereas the tips of the tea leaves are taken for the more usual varieties of tea in white tea it is the youngest growth on the tea plant that is picked, even before the leaves have had time to open. They are then dried immediately to stop them oxidising.

The amount of oxidation is what separates the different types of tea; White tea is oxidised the least, then Green, Oolong, and finally Black tea is allowed to fully oxidise (which gives the leaves their characteristic black colour).