The white tea leaves are picked and harvested before the leaves open fully, when the buds are still covered by fine white hair. Hence the name. White tea is scarcer than the other traditional teas, and quite a bit more expensive. White tea is similar to green tea, in that it's undergone very little processing and no fermentation. But there is a noticable difference in taste. Most green teas have a distinctive 'grassy' taste to them, but white tea does not. The flavour is described as light, and sweet. You should steep white tea in water that is below the boiling point.