Rare tea on sale at Northallerton tea room

6:39pm Saturday 2nd August 2008

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SOME liquid luxury has arrived in a Northallerton tea room.

The town's Bettys is celebrating the arrival of the most expensive tea ever offered by the family business.

A limited consignment of Anji white tea, highly sought after in its home country of China, has been introduced to the shop at a price of £20 for 125g.

The tea, grown in China's Zhejiang province, originates from one of only four wild white tea trees in the world, considered national treasures in China.

Bettys head tea buyer, Ian Brabbin, discovered the rare tea on his long journey across seven Chinese provinces in search of the best teas the country had to offer.

Although the term white tea comes from the snowy white colour of the leaves as the new shoots burst through in spring, once the tea has been hand-picked, dried and sorted, the slim leaves take on a bright green colour, which can be most appreciated if the tea is infused in a glass, as is done in China.

Mr Brabbin said: "Of all the teas I tasted on my journey, from markets and tea-estates, the Anji white stood out with its beautiful leaves and fresh, delicate flavour. This extremely rare tea is only produced for three weeks of the year, and so we are delighted to have secured a small quantity of Anji white tea for our Bettys customers to take home and enjoy."