Harvest Date: Early April 2026
Harvest Location: Anji, Huzhou, Zhejiang
Cultivar: Baiye Yihao
Elevation: 1300m (4265ft)
 
This premium tea—often counted among China’s most celebrated green teas—is harvested in Anji County from a high-mountain garden at an elevation of approximately 1,300 meters. At this altitude, spring arrives later than in the lowlands, so the harvest begins several weeks after lower-elevation fields.
 
Anji Bai Cha is famous for an unusually short picking window. The cultivar’s tender spring buds emerge pale, almost jade-white due to low chlorophyll levels in cool early-spring temperatures. As temperatures rise, the leaves quickly turn green and the prized harvest period ends—typically lasting only 7–10 days.
 
High-elevation Anji Bai Cha is widely regarded for its superior clarity, sweetness, and aromatic refinement compared to teas grown at lower altitudes. This garden follows natural farming practices without the use of synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
 
In the cup, this Anji Bai Cha is soft, floral, and gently creamy, with a smooth, mellow body and a lingering sweet aftertaste. The liquor remains clean and delicate from the first sip to the last, with virtually no bitterness or astringency.
 
History, Cultivar, and Processing
 
Despite its name, Anji Bai Cha is a green tea. The Chinese name 安吉白茶 translates literally to “Anji White Tea,” referring not to processing style but to the appearance of the early spring leaves.
 
The tea is produced exclusively in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, and is made from a rare, temperature-sensitive albino cultivar known as Bai Ye Yi Hao (白叶一号). This natural mutation of the tea plant produces pale leaves in cool spring conditions due to suppressed chlorophyll production and unusually high amino acid content, especially L-theanine.
 
The tea is processed using standard green tea methods: withering, pan-fixing (kill-green), shaping, and drying. Careful, low-temperature processing preserves the tea’s hallmark sweetness, clarity, and fresh vegetal-floral aroma.