Green Tea vs White Tea: Which Ceylon Should You Choose?
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Green and white are Ceylon's two lightest teas, and they're often mentioned in the same breath — but they're made differently, taste different, and sit at very different price points. Here's how to choose.
How each is made
Green tea is made from young leaves that are heated soon after plucking to stop oxidation, locking in a fresh, grassy character. SOO Ceylon Green Tea is minimally processed — nothing added, nothing lost.
White tea barely touches human hands or machines at all. Silver Tips is just unopened buds, hand-picked before dawn and gently withered — the least processed tea there is, and among the rarest.
How they taste
- Ceylon green: clean, lightly grassy, delicately sweet. Bright hot; superb cold-brewed.
- Silver Tips: pale, silky and floral with a lingering natural sweetness — subtle, and best drunk clear with full attention.
Rarity and price
Green tea is an everyday pleasure — accessible and versatile. Silver Tips is a different proposition: a single 50 g tin represents roughly 1,500 individually picked buds from a short seasonal harvest, which is why it costs what a special tea should.
Brewing them right
- Green: 80°C, 2–3 minutes — never boiling water, which turns it bitter. Cold-brew overnight for a smoother glass.
- Silver Tips: 75–80°C, 4–5 minutes. Drink it clear — there is nothing to add.
The verdict
For a daily light cup, hot or iced: green. For a slow weekend pot, a gift, or your first step into rare tea: Silver Tips. Many of our customers keep both.