white tea

Calque of Chinese 白茶 (báichá).

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.

• white tea on Wikipedia.Wikipedia