There were once two lazy Xiao brothers who had lived in Nankeng. They were reckless even though they inherited a tea garden. The leaves they selected were not uniform in size, as both buds and larger leaves were selected at random.
Because they were very lazy, the simple processing of green tea could not even bother them, let alone producing oxidized oolong or black teas. It was just too much effort, and their justification was that for roasting leaves they could save on coal.
The effect was they didn't implement any manufacturing measures like roasting and rolling. The irregular leaves were only dried under the Sun light, and then cooled down in the shade to make the tea ready for sale. By mistake they figured out that they didn't break the coating of white hairs on the leaves by adding fewer processing measures.
The white tea product from lazy brothers fascinated villagers, and they wanted to learn the hidden method of processing behind special and amazing taste. Villagers couldn't find something when they spied. They've just seen brothers drying the buds and leaves under the sun; not knowing that drying was just what the brothers were doing.
Tea eventually famous by various names:
bai hao cha' (白毫茶) - white hair tea;
'nankeng bai' (南坑白) - white tea from Nankeng; and
'xiao bai' (小白) - small white.
Several officials enjoyed the white tea during the Qin dynasty because of its soft mellow taste and thick soup. They chose to name it because the design resembled an eyebrow.
'shou mei' (寿眉) - longevity eyebrow
It is not clear why 'longevity' is included. One farmer has told us that this is due to the wonderful anti-aging properties of Shou Mei. Another farmer told us it is because of the compressed white tea cakes' long-term storage capacity.
An official in Fujian, later on decided to select this tea as a tribute to the emperor. That's why he changed the name from shou mei to:
'gong mei' (贡眉) - tribute eyebrow
It was loved after entering the palace because of its strong fragrance, soft and thick flavour, and the appearance of unusual leaves and colors in the cup.
