White tea is sometimes called the most natural tea, since it has not been heat treated like green tea. The taste is often very light, such as silver needle, or somewhat more complex as in Bai Mudan.
The name comes from the silvery-white hairs covering the tea leaf buds. After harvest, the leaves are left to wither and then dried, preferable in the sun. The liquor itself is not white, but rather yellow, and rich in polyphenols, which probably is the component behind tea's health benefits.