All the teas come from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis. The differences between teas arise from processing, growing conditions, and geography. The Camellia Sinensis plant is native to Asia, but is currently cultivated around the world in tropical and subtropical areas. Tea is harvested after the sprouting of the top two leaves and bud. The top two leaves and bud are hand plucked and then processed into any of the types of the tea mentioned below.
Black Tea
The process for making black tea is defined by allowing the leaf to fully oxidize during production (which means water evaporates out of the leaf and the leaf absorbs more oxygen from the air). The results are the characteristic dark brown and black leaf with typically more robust and pronounced flavors. Black tea is further classified as CTC (For Example, Assam Tea which are granular) and Orthodox Tea (For Example, Darjeeling Black Tea)
Green Tea
All tea starts out green. The green tea process is defined by preventing oxidation. Shortly after picking, the leaves are “fired” (rapid heating) to arrest oxidation and keep the leaf “green” for the duration of production. Green teas are typically steeped for shorter amounts of time and at lower temperatures which will produce a lighter cup with less caffeine.
Yellow Tea
The processing techniques of yellow tea are very similar to those of green tea, with an additional step of wrapping or wet-piling, called sweltering, which is unique to this type of tea.
Due to the specific manufacturing process, the grassy notes of green tea disappear and the taste of the tea becomes more sweet and mellow. The thick tea liquor also shows golden-yellow colour, a sign of high quality.
Oolong Tea
Oolong teas are roughly defined as any tea that undergoes partial oxidation (10-90%), but this fact is not useful by itself. “Baking” (take the term literally) is also a common technique in making oolong tea so it is impossible to summarize categorically. The regional styles and cultivars used tend to define them more than anything else. For example, we refer to both Ti Kwan Yin and Big Red Robe as oolong tea, but they have nothing in common.
White Tea
The best way to define white tea is by a lack of processing. To crudely summarize, the leaves are picked and gently dried until they are finished. White tea is not oxidized or rolled, but simply withered and dried by steaming. Since they are handled minimally and not re-shaped in any way, the finished product tends to be bulky with the possibility of some incidental oxidation, but nothing intentional.
Phalap Tea (Indian version of Puer Tea)
The Singphos, a tribal community residing in parts of Northeast India, Myanmar, and China, are believed to be among India’s first tea drinkers. To this day, they continue to process tea by first heating the leaves in a metal pan until they brown, and then sun-drying them for a few days. To make the more flavourful, smoked tea, the sun-dried leaves are tightly packed in bamboo tubes and smoked over a fire. After a week of storing these bamboos, the processed tea hardens to take the shape of the tube. It can then be preserved for up to 10 years, with small portions sliced off with a knife to brew a fresh cup of tea. Like wine, the smoked flavour of the tea matures more with time. When processed and brewed correctly, a cup of Singpho tea, which is had without milk or sugar, is a lovely golden-orange colour. The leaves can be reused to brew two to three cups, the flavour getting better with each infusion. According to locals, the tea’s organic production and traditional processing retain its medicinal value. The Singphos say a cup after every meal aids digestion and believe it has kept the community relatively free from cancer and diabetes.
Purple Tea
Purple tea is an entirely new category of tea! Purple tea is produced from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant, which is the same plant from which black, green, oolong, and other types of tea are made. Unlike other types of tea, however, the leaves of this new varietal are purple instead of green. The tea was first discovered growing wild in the Assam region of India.
Purple leaf tea has a similar flavor profile to oolong, and is lighter than black tea but not quite as vegetal tasting as green tea. It’s also very high in anthocyanins, the beneficial compounds found in blueberries, eggplant, purple grapes and other blue, purple or dark red foods. Purple tea is low in caffeine (less than green tea, slightly more than white tea).
The main chemical substances in tea are essential oils, caffeine, and polyphenols (mistakenly known by many people as tannins). The essential oils give us the aroma of the tea, the caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, and the polyphenols account for the much publicized antioxidant and anti-disease properties.
Tea is not to be confused with herbal infusions. Herbal infusions are packaged like tea, infused like tea, and enjoyed like tea, however the herbs do not come from the camellia sinensis bush and therefore are not teas. Herbal infusions are made of grasses like lemongrass, barks like cinnamon, fruits like orange peel, flowers like chamomile and hibiscus, and many other botanicals.