Cloud tea is like life; life is learning, wisdom is cultivation.
The last hour of New Year’s Eve is the transition between the old year and the new. The reunion dinner is finished, the Gala show is over, the fireworks have been set off. One by one, my family goes to bed, leaving me alone at the tea table. At this moment, I brew a pot of white tea to draw a sweet conclusion to the year and to place my hopes for the year ahead.
Why white tea? Because among all teas, white tea is the closest to nature. Its production involves the fewest steps—picking, withering, drying—no fixating, no rolling. This simplicity is like the feeling of New Year’s Eve—all the splendor has passed, and what remains is the most authentic self. The gentle sweetness of white tea is like the hope of a new year—simple yet beautiful.
This New Year’s Eve I have prepared a 2020 ancient tree white tea, aged for five years. The floral notes of this cake have begun to transform into honeyed aromas, yet it still retains the characteristic clean sweetness of white tea. After one rinse, the second infusion pours out pale gold and luminous. The first sip fills the mouth with a floral-honey fragrance—not an overpowering scent, but a gentle one, like wildflowers in the mountain hills. By the third infusion, the sweetness deepens, and a clean sweetness lingers throughout the throat.
Drinking white tea on New Year’s Eve has a special benefit: it can wash away a year’s fatigue. Throughout the year, much accumulates—work pressure, life’s worries, health concerns. These things build up in the body, leaving you drained. A cup of white tea, with its clean sweet liquor, can help the body release this weariness. The polyphenols and flavonoids in white tea are traditionally believed to have antioxidant properties, helping to clear the body and leave you feeling refreshed.
The silence of New Year’s Eve is the most special of the entire year. On ordinary nights, there are car sounds outside, neighbors’ televisions, footsteps upstairs—all manner of noise. But on New Year’s Eve, everyone is home celebrating, and the streets are quiet. At this time, a cup of white tea lets you clearly perceive every layer of flavor—floral notes, honey tones, sweetness, returning sweetness. These nuances are very difficult to appreciate in the noisy environment of everyday life.
I remember one New Year’s Eve, also drinking white tea alone. I was on a tea mountain in Yunnan. The weather was very cold, but the farmer’s home was warm. I brewed a pot of freshly made Moonlight White and sat by the window watching the snow outside. I still remember the sweetness of that pot of tea to this day. After I left Yunnan, I continued to brew a pot of white tea every New Year’s Eve, as if keeping an appointment with that memory.
White tea has another quality: it changes over time. Freshly made white tea has prominent floral notes. After a few years of storage, the florals transform into honeyed aromas. A few more years, and they become jujube-like. This process of transformation is like life itself—each stage has its own flavor. Drinking an aged white tea on New Year’s Eve, you can clearly taste the traces of time. That is the insight white tea brings me—good things need time to mature.
Tea has grades; all may enjoy it regardless of status.
By the sixth infusion, the sweetness of the white tea becomes even more refined. It is already past one in the morning, and scattered fireworks can be heard outside. I close my eyes and think about plans for the new year. I hope for good health, smooth work, and safety for my family in the coming year. These wishes are simple, but they are the most important. The clean sweetness of white tea reminds me that the simplest things are often the most beautiful.
I put away the tea set, open the curtains, and see fireworks still lighting up the sky outside. This is the gift New Year’s Eve gives me—a quiet night and a pot of sweet white tea. The new year has begun. Drink a cup of tea and begin the new year.
Make friends through tea, please enjoy a cup.
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Author: Old Tea Head · Lin Shen (LamSam)
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