Moonlight White Tea

One for the tea connoisseurs. From a 150 year-old tea tree.
This is a rare tea of remarkable complexity. A beautiful journey, right down to the 8th infusion.
Picked only under the full moon and withered in darkness. Moonlight White is an intriguing result of biodynamic farming.
Unusually, this tea does not come from camellia sinensis, but from cemellia taliensis.
The debate is on whether this is white, black, pu’erh or oolong tea.
Get it here chinalifeweb.com/shop/product/... and decide for yourself.
Don’t forget to S.C.O.P.E the tea’s quality before buying it. In this video we tell you how.

[@TheRjmayer]

Tea is a C3 plant meaning each carbohydrate has 3 carbon molecules. C3 plants need a cycle of darkness which they use to store carbohydrates in their leaves to use for photosynthesis during the course of the light cycle. By picking the tea at night there would be a higher concentration of sugars in the tea leaves. That's the science behind moonlight white tea as i understand it.

[@MeiLeaf]

+TheRjmayer that is great information thank you for sharing with us.

[@gabrielamaldonado7506]

marry me haha, really though such a smart explanation

[@yasbawi]

Excellent piece of information. Thank you!

[@RimJobJesus369]

Similar to harvesting your cannabis very early in the morning so as to have the highest concentration of cannabinoids

[@arthurporter131]

I ordered three samplers from your shop, the souchong liquor, the eastern beauty, and this moonlight white. All three of these teas have been truly magical. I have tried some teas from other online tea influencers and have always had good experiences, but the teas I ordered from your shop are truly next level. The unique character each of the three aforementioned teas have is undeniable. The eastern beauty with its creamy peach, sugar cookies and white raisins, the souchong liquor with its strong rambutan, dark cocoa, and smoked woods, and the moonlight white with its subtle honied sweetness and floral notes turned up to the max… Truly appreciate the experience your channel and shop has provided me and I will DEFINITELY be a returning customer

[@babybalrog]

What you said about slower growth meaning more minerals jives with an article I read about Apples and Wheat. When we fertilize them they grow more, but all that growth is in non-nutrient forms. Basically, the nutritional value of an apple is set, and uninfluenced by its size. The larger apples simply have more "flesh" which is basically fiber and carbohydrates. Similarly wheat, grows taller with fertilizer, increasing yield in tons, but all of this is structural fibers, mainly gluten, to hold up the taller stalks. This is why in some people with gluten allergy, can stomach organic heirloom wheat, but not the "stalk-ier", mass produced stuff. Stalks still only produce 3-4 seeds, which is where the value is. Or are we up to 6 now. In a since what you are getting with a slow growth tea, is a more concentrated form with less water / other filler in the leaves. Thus needing less drying, thus less chemical changes.

[@lincolnosiris3665]

Have it in my cup right now. It is absolutely impeccable. Really good stuff. Thumbs up!

[@reedshandmadeincense]

Yue guang bai tea leaves have a very unique color pattern and they make for a pretty tea cake.

[@Yogunjob]

out of pure curiosity I purchased siimilar tea in the shop around the corner just yesterday. they classified it as a moonlight white pu'erh. I'm going to try ramping up the temperature (started at 70-75C now, which gave a really sweet flowery honey taste which I loved) next up is the 80-85C Hoping to get some more nuts without losing too much the flowery honey. love your channel, keep up the great stuff!

[@violentfrog_]

Hey Don! I bought a batch of Moonlight white for my wife for mother's day and she loved it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

[@charlottevandeven6348]

I love this tea, the sweetness in it a lot of honey and allready in the first infusion when you let it cool down a little the flowery smell jum!! Great explanation! Very interesting :)

[@bullfrogger1208]

Hot days and cold nights don't necessarily result in slower growth especially in areas with hot weather . For example , if you have a plant in a 100 deg f day and it stays warm all night , say 85 f , that plant will not grow as well as one in a 60 deg f night . the cool temps slow the respiration rate of the plant giving it a chance to fully recharge itself with moisture for another round of heat . Sometimes with hot days and nights in succession , a plant can go for days and never be fully replenished with moisture . Same with heat units . It's not a case of more heat units equal more growth . Above a certain level the effects are actually detrimental as the plant may tell itself it needs to shut down production or even toss off existing growth in order to survive . This is why on hot afternoons you can see crops droop and wilt a bit because they cant absorb moisture as fast as they give it off , but by morning , they look completely different . Love you videos .

[@MeiLeaf]

Interesting information thank you very much for this knowledge. The tea mountains rarely get above 80f during the spring harvest so the colder nights at higher altitude does help to slow the growth according to the farmers.

[@knoxx187]

This is my favorite tea getting my cakes at the end of the month!

[@FraneTaf]

Love the video, thank you :) I was brewing mine at 'white tea' 80c. I will try a higher temp as well. It's become one of my favourites lately.

[@alexvech]

this tea is crazy good ! i don't like the tangy bitter flavour of 'silver needle' but this moonlight is sweet as honey and flavourful as flowers.

[@erinasher3231]

Im making a trip downtown (Montreal) to a local tea salon for some tommorow. I can't wait to try it.

[@VFanK]

Awesomely detailed description of the tea. Thank you!

[@MeiLeaf]

+Veronika K Thanks for watching!

[@Comaxx]

i buy this tea a few days ago from a shop in berlin. It is the most complex white tea i have ever drunk and i have tried a lot of very pricy high quality teas, yinzhen ist one of it but overprized. this is by far one of my favorites of all time! thank you for reviewing it! I love the fruity and the wooden notes and its overwelmingly complex over 5 infusions. it goes and goes over and over again. heavenly! LOVE IT SOOO MUCH!

[@Comaxx]

there is also a black moonlight variant as a oolong! will buy this one next.

[@staarvsraainbow]

Got this this Typ of tea as a present in China, about to try it, I am very excited. We have never heard of it before

[@xl1200rcl]

I have enjoyed your videos and I have learned quite a lot. I like how you use the acronym SCOPE to describe the origin of the teas history. Thanks for your passion to educate us. Outstanding! 👍

[@MeiLeaf]

+Randy Lovett Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@Moksha0108]

Almost sounded like it was said 800´000 years old at 4:34. That would be quite a puer tea!

[@MeiLeaf]

+Loorangi I don't think anyone could afford it though!!!!

[@williampichardo1485]

+chinalife Tea House I doubt there were anything to drink left anymore

[@chrisladouceur4093]

I consider it a white tea but I can see a strong argument for wulong. I have also seen it called a “white pu’erh” in some places, which I can see an argument for if it’s from that area and has been aged. I’ve been instructed the highest quality should be picked at night and withered in-doors with hot air. I’ve never heard anything about it needing a full moon, but I can see how the extra light would help picking. Very fascinating tea! I’ve got some taliensis white tea cakes from the same region being aged, interested to see how they turn out. I don’t usually age teas myself, the climate here causes them to age very slowly.

[@dnmotley]

A quick check of Wikipedia indicates that Camellia taliensis is an endangered species due to human fragmentation of its habitat, and overpicking of its leaves for tea. But from what you say about the farming methods, this product seems to be sustainably produced.

[@user-xu4xj7bf2q]

wow...

[@guguigugu]

delicious and fragrant. tastes almost like light black tea with honey. so good.

[@tanghingtung5897]

In Chinese mythology there is an animal called “neither 4” (四不像)... maybe they should consider a new category of tea called “neither X”...

[@EricBryan]

My order arrived yesterday and I brewed my first cup this morning. What a great tea! I am not a fan of most black teas but this delivers the best taste qualities (to my preference) of black tea with the mellow creaminess of a white tea. I hope you continue to stock this tea...I'm hooked!

[@MeiLeaf]

Thanks for writing your tasting notes - it is a really interesting hybrid tea mixing up the best of black and white tea with the terroirs of Yunnan. We will continue to stock if we can find similar quality tea.

[@gymgirl1010910]

Where do you get your tea wear from? It's so beautiful

[@MeiLeaf]

Usually the markets and craftspeople in China.

[@Tech419z]

Damn I would love this! wish you had some in stock on meileaf :(

[@MeiLeaf]

We have tried a few batches this year and they did not meet the grade so as we promise, if it is not good enough we won't buy. I am sure that we will find a good harvest but sorry for the delay.

[@Hdkslsu]

They have it in stock now - I mean mei leaf has it! It is beautiful tea

[@waunersmith]

The full moon has an effect on tides and I think that this has something to do with picking during the full moon. I can only present the theory that the moon is 'pulling up' more than normal on the fluid from the roots of the tree = more minerals and taste in the leaves. BTW I am learning a lot from your videos - Thank you. Cheers.

[@MeiLeaf]

Yes this is a fascinating theory. Biodynamic farming has shown that there may be some effects between the moon and agriculture.

[@roxxz5774]

I didn't understand why would be categorized as white. Was because of the buds?

[@MeiLeaf]

Because it is processed essentially like a white tea - picked, withered and dried without any fixing heating.

[@americalost5100]

Is there a do it yourself way to press tea into cakes?

[@g.m.9180]

it has to be pressed before the leaves are dried, otherwise you'll break them. I don't think there's any way to reprocess tea after it's dried without damaging it

[@garlicbananana]

이땐 엄청 차분했구나...

[@watchingeye5435]

Sometimes he talks much too long - sorry but I guess I am not the only one thinking so

[@jasonblack4208]

You are the only one. The rest of us love listening