A Summary of the World's Most Famous Types of Tea 

Introduction:
 
It is commonly believed by many of our customers at epicureanfoods.com that green teas and black teas are made from different tea plants. However, this belief is most assuredly incorrect! It is, in fact, only the different processing methods that produce the five main different types of tea that are so popular with tea drinkers today: white tea, green tea, oolong tea, black tea, scented teas, and the many different varieties within each category. Combined, they make a total of more than 7,950 documented tea types from around the world.  We have compiled this brief overview of the types of tea.  (We will spare you going through all 7,950 types and just provide a decent summary that we hope that you will find to be interesting and informative!)

White Tea:

White Tea is produced on a very limited scale in China (originally in Fujian Province) and Sri Lanka. The new tea buds are plucked before they open, are withered to allow the natural moisture to evaporate, and then dried. The curled-up tea buds have a silvery appearance (and are sometimes referred to as Silverlip Tea) and give a very pale, straw-colored liquid. Tea purists around the globe revere white teas.

Green Tea:

Green teas are often referred to as "non-fermented" teas or "unfermented” teas. The freshly picked tea leaves are allowed to dehydrate and then are heat-treated to stop any fermentation (or oxidation) that normally would rot the tea leaf.

In China, traditional hand-making methods are still employed in many places, particularly in the manufacture of China's finest teas, but some tea factories have introduced some mechanized processes to produce their teas more quickly and efficiently. Under the traditional method of making green tea, the fresh, green tea leaves are spread out in a thin layer on bamboo trays and exposed to sunlight or natural warm air for one or two hours. The tea leaves are then placed, a small amount at a time, into hot roasting pans and moved about quickly (with a tea production worker’s hands), as they become moist and soft and the natural moisture evaporates. (Please be advised as well, however that a small amount of China’s green teas are steamed rather than roasted.) After four or five minutes, the softened tea leaves are rolled into balls on bamboo tables (in the larger factories, this was traditionally done with by tea production workers’ feet.) Then, the green tea balls are again placed almost immediately into the hot roasting pans and moved about rapidly before being rolled. After one or two hours, the green tea leaves have turned a dull green and undergo no further changes in their transformation into green tea that can be consumed. They are finally sifted to separate them into different-size pieces of tea leaves.

In Japan, the plucked green tea leaves are steamed quickly on a moving belt, making them supple and soft and ready for rolling. They are cooled and then repeatedly rolled, twisted, and dried until all the moisture has evaporated. A final rolling stage shapes and styles the green tea leaves before the last drying period. The green tea is then allowed to cool before being packed into airtight containers for shipment to retail tea stores. It is important to know that some Japanese green teas are still processed by hand, although most factories have now mechanized most of their green tea production processes.

Oolong Teas:

Oolong tea is generally referred to as “semi-fermented” tea and is principally manufactured in China and Taiwan (which, incidentally, is still known as Formosa in tea terminology!) For the manufacture of Chinese oolong teas, the tea leaves must not be picked prematurely and it is important that they are processed immediately after plucking. They are first wilted in direct sunlight, and then shaken in bamboo baskets to lightly bruise the tea leaf edges.

Next, the oolong tea leaves are alternately shaken and spread out to dehydrate until the surface of the tea leaves turn slightly yellow. The edges turn a reddish color as the chemicals in the bruised tea leaves react with oxygen. This fermentation or oxidation period is stopped after several hours by firing. It is important to note that oolong teas are always whole leaf teas, (i.e. they are never broken by rolling). Formosa oolong teas undergo a slightly longer fermentation period and are thus slightly darker in appearance than Chinese oolong teas. These oolong teas also give a much richer, darker liquid than the paler orangey-brown infusion of Chinese oolong tea. Pouchong Tea is yet another variety of a very lightly fermented tea that undergoes a shorter fermentation than oolong teas. Its unique formulation process almost results in being placed in a unique tea category somewhere between green teas and oolong teas. Pouchong teas originated in Fujian Province. However, they are almost exclusively grown in Taiwan and are usually employed as the base for Jasmine tea and other fine scented teas.

Black Teas:

The methodologies of black tea production vary markedly among the various tea producing areas of the world. However, it is important to realize that the tea production process always involves four basic steps:

1. Withering
2. Rolling
3. Fermenting
4. Tiring (or drying)

Under the traditional or "orthodox” method of black tea production (which is still used today in the tea growing regions of China, Taiwan, parts of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and elsewhere), which produces larger particles of tea leaves, the plucked tea leaves are spread out to wither. (Somewhat mercifully perhaps, the finer varieties of tea are allowed to dehydrate in the shade) until they are limp enough to be rolled without splitting the surface of the tea leaf. At this stage, the tea leaves exude a fruity, almost apple-like odor. Next, the withered tea leaves are rolled, in order to release the chemicals within the tea leaves that are required to be present in the tea’s final color and flavor. This process is still completed manually in some tea factories, but most use the famous “Rotorvane” tea machines to crush the tea leaves lightly. The rolled lumps of tea are then crushed and the tea leaves are carefully placed in a cool, humid atmosphere for several hours to absorb oxygen. This “airing out” process causes a chemical change in the tea leaf particles and turns them from green to a coppery red tone. Lastly, the oxidized (or fermented) tea leaf is tired in order to stop the inevitable decomposition. Finally, at this stage, the tea particles turn black and acquire their recognizable tea smell. Tea leaf firing was traditionally carried out in large pans over open fires and this method is still used in some Chinese tea factories, but most producers now pass the tea through hot air tunnels or bake it in hot ovens to expedite the process.

The CTC method (i.e. Cut, Tean and Curl) produces smaller tea leaf particles that give a stronger quicker brew. This makes them ideal for use in tea bags. The withered tea leaf is passed through the rollers of a CTC machine which rotate at varying speeds, or an LTP (Lawrie Tea Processor), a rotating hammer-mill tea leaf disintegrator, which tears and breaks the tea leaves into tiny particles. The rest of the process is the same as for orthodox black teas, as outlined above.

Scented Teas:

Green teas, oolong teas, and black teas are all used to make scented teas. The additional flavorings are mixed with the processed tea leaves as a final stage before the tea is packed. For Jasmine tea, whole jasmine blossoms are added to green tea or black tea. For Rose Pouchong Tea or Rose Congou Tea, rose petals are blended with China or Formosa oolong tea or black tea. Fruit flavored teas are generally made by blending the fruits’ essential oils with the processed tea.

Herbal, fruit, and flower tisanes and infusions that do not contain any product of the Camelia sinensis should not be confused with scented and flavored teas. It is critical to note that these herbals are not teas and should therefore not be labeled as such.

Compressed Teas:

Chinese tea producers first began forming their tea into solid blocks during the Tang Dynasty by steaming the green tea leaves and then compressing them into cakes or bricks that were then allowed to dehydrate. Today, China’s tea bricks consist of tea dust that has been hydraulically compressed into slabs weighing just over one kilogram. Also available today for the adventurous tea drinker are small seven layer cakes, balls of tea, and nest-shaped and bowl-shaped compressed teas. Compressed teas are sold for their medicinal qualities, as they are believed to be excellent for improved digestion, treating diarrhea, indigestion, and high cholesterol levels.

Organic Tea:

The commercial production of organic tea is a comparatively recent phenomenon, dating back only approximately twenty years. Tea production under organic rules is exceptionally complicated and very tightly controlled. All fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used in the production of organic tea must be absolutely free of chemicals and can rely only on materials such as dung, compost, natural organic matter and plants and trees that provide necessary nutrients, ground cover etc.

The aims of the organic tea estates are to obtain the long-term sustainability of soil fertility and productively protect the environment. They are striving valiantly to create a form of an organic micro-system that produces an economically viable tea that is completely free of all chemicals. We do not mean to suggest that all non-organic teas do contain chemicals, but rather, we state simply that an organic tea system produces tea for a growing market of tea consumers who care about the environment and the long-term health of the planet. Members of this elite tea drinking group recognize and appreciate the superb taste of some of the organic teas being produced today in India, Africa, and Sri Lanka. Makaibari, in the Darjeeling Tea Growing Region, was certified by the Organic Farmers and Growers, (UK), in l990 and produces highly acclaimed teas of exceptional quality. Mullootor is another Darjeeling tea garden that went organic in l986, and Lonrho Teas, in Tanzania, has been producing organic tea since l989. (Their tea has even been served at Buckingham Palace!) In Sri Lanka, the Needwood Tea Estate is now also producing organic teas. In short, significant progress has been made in the commercial production of organic tea.

Phyllis and Greg Sprout began their company, epicureanfoods.com, in July 1993.  They specialize in supplying hard-to-find gourmet foods, fine wines, gift baskets and other non-food gourmet items to discriminating customers across North America.  Their combined 50+ years in the fine food and fine wine businesses uniquely enable them to assess the wide variety of gourmet & specialty foods, fine wines and non-food gourmet items available on the market today.  They offer only those items that they deem to be superior to comparable competitive products and that represent superb value to the consumer.   They also have a thriving wholesale division of their company which services gourmet shops, gift shops and gift basket companies across North America.  They can be reached at phyllisandgreg@epicureanfoods.com.