What is Tea?

If you were like me, you drink tea often but never thought about what exactly tea is. Here is some answers to what is tea and what is the type of tea you are drinking.

Teas are made from the same plant, camellia sinensis. Camellia sinensis is the species of plant whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea.What makes tea different is the process they go through.

White tea
Unwilted and unoxidized. White tea contains buds and young tea leaves, with higher caffeine than older leaves.

Yellow tea
Unwilted and unoxidized but allowed to yellow. Yellow tea usually implies a special tea processed similarly to green tea, but with a slower drying phase, where the damp tea leaves are allowed to sit and yellow.

Green tea
Wilted and unoxidized. Green tea is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of Camellia sinensis that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing.

Oolong
Wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized. Oolong (Wulong) Teas are categorized between green and black teas. Their flavors vary in taste & character and bring complexity and depth that are not always present in other types of tea.

Black tea
Wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidized. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor and contains more caffeine than the less oxidized teas.

Herbal tea
Herbal teas can be made with fresh or dried flowers, fruit, leaves, seeds or roots and contains no tea leaves. Therefore these are not actual teas.

Rooibos
Rooibos are a broom-like member of the legume family of plants. This is a type of herbal tea.

Chai
Tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs.

English Tea
Tea blended and mixed with various other plants in order to obtain a specific flavor. Example: Earl Grey - black tea with bergamot oil.

Organic
Organic teas come in different varieties and are grown without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Olivia Vidal
© 2009
Teaporia by Tea Time with Liv