福鼎大白茶
Fuding Dabai
Clonal, early-sprouting, medium-leaf small tree from Bailiu village in Fuding. Its very downy buds are the classic Silver Needle material; it was approved as a national cultivar in 1985.
- Botanical
- Camellia sinensis
- Kind
- clonal cultivar
- Origin
- Fuding
Also sold or written as 6#
Chinese variants
- 福鼎白毫(Fuding Baihao)Alternative name given by zh-Wikipedia.
- 白毛茶 / 福大(Baimaocha / Fuda)Short and colloquial names given by zh-Wikipedia.
Romanisations
- Fuding Dabaicha
Translations and trade names
- Fuding Da Bai
- Fuding Large White
Registration identifiers
- GS13001-1985National approval number (1985), as given by zh-Wikipedia.
Names and ambiguities#
Notes#
zh-Wikipedia describes it as a small tree (小乔木型), medium-leaf (中叶类), early-sprouting clonal cultivar. In Fuding, buds break in early to mid March and one bud with three leaves peaks in early April. Shoots are plump, yellow-green and very hairy, and the cultivar suits black, green and white tea. Promotion began in eastern Fujian in 1950, and from 1960 it was introduced to Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Anhui. It was approved by the national crop-variety committee in 1985 (GS13001-1985). The Fuding GI specification describes it as semi-arborescent and less tall than Fuding Dahao, half-open, with oval, yellowish-green, glossy, rugose leaves. Variety rank (var. sinensis or otherwise) is not stated in the sources read, so botanical is left at species level.
Teas made from it#
白茶
White tea báichá
Tea chiefly made by withering, drying and sorting, without green-tea fixation. Traditional forms are unrolled; Fuding new-craft white tea adds light rolling.
sourced
白毫银针
Silver Needle Báiháo Yínzhēn
Bud-only white tea made from Dabai or Shuixian plant material under the national product definition. Fuding and Zhenghe are important production origins.
sourced
白牡丹
White Peony Bái Mǔdān
White tea from a bud with one or two young leaves of Dabai or Shuixian cultivars, fuller than Silver Needle; named for its flower-like leaf clusters.
sourced
寿眉
Shou Mei Shòuméi
Leafy white tea made from tender shoots or leaves of Dabai, Shuixian or population-type tea plants. Sold loose or pressed; leaf grade, season and storage are separate details.
sourced