Types of tea explained: green, white, oolong, black, pu-erh and herbal

TUREFF• •0

Walk into a tea shop and the choice can be overwhelming, but almost everything on the shelf comes from a single plant. The differences in colour, aroma and taste come mostly from what happens to the leaves after picking. This guide explains the main types of tea and what sets them apart.

One plant: Camellia sinensis

True tea, whether green, white, oolong, black or pu-erh, is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub. There are two main varieties:

Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, a smaller-leaved plant common in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan
Camellia sinensis var. assamica, a larger-leaved plant common in India and parts of Yunnan, often used for strong black teas

Climate, soil, altitude, harvest season and the cultivar all shape the final flavour, but processing matters most.

The key idea: oxidation

Once tea leaves are picked and bruised, enzymes in them react with oxygen and the leaves gradually darken, much as a cut apple turns brown. Tea makers control this process, called oxidation:

heat the leaves soon after picking to stop oxidation and you get green tea
let them oxidise partly and you get oolong
let them oxidise fully and you get black tea

Rolling, shaping, drying and sometimes roasting further change the result.

Green tea

Green tea is heated soon after picking to stop oxidation, which keeps the leaves green and the flavour fresh. Methods differ by country: Chinese green teas are often pan-fired, giving toasty, nutty notes, while Japanese teas such as sencha are usually steamed, which gives a greener, more vegetal and sometimes marine taste. Korean green tea, known as nokcha, uses both methods. Matcha is a Japanese green tea ground into a fine powder and whisked into water, so you consume the whole leaf.

White tea

White tea is minimally processed: the leaves or buds are withered and dried with little handling. Fujian province in China is its traditional home. Styles made only from downy buds, such as Silver Needle, are delicate and sweet; styles with more leaf, such as White Peony, are fuller. White tea is often thought of as unoxidised, but slow withering lets some oxidation happen.

Yellow tea

A rare Chinese category, made much like green tea but with an extra step in which the warm, damp leaves are wrapped or covered to rest. The result is mellower and less grassy than most green teas.

Oolong tea

Oolong sits between green and black, and the range is wide. Lightly oxidised oolongs, such as many Taiwanese high-mountain teas, taste floral and buttery. Heavily oxidised and roasted oolongs, such as many Wuyi rock teas from Fujian, are darker, toasty and mineral. Oolongs are often rolled into tight balls or long twisted leaves and are well suited to brewing several times.

Black tea

Black tea is fully oxidised, which gives it a dark colour, a robust taste and more body. In China it is called red tea (hong cha), after the colour of the brew. Well-known origins include Assam and Darjeeling in India, Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Keemun in China. Many everyday breakfast blends are black teas, and black tea takes milk well.

Pu-erh and other dark teas

Pu-erh comes from Yunnan in China and is often pressed into cakes or bricks. It changes with time thanks to slow fermentation involving microbes, not just oxidation. There are two main kinds:

Raw (sheng) pu-erh, which is pressed and then left to age naturally, sometimes for many years, becoming smoother and deeper over time
Ripe (shou) pu-erh, which goes through an accelerated wet-piling fermentation, a method developed at the Kunming Tea Factory in the 1970s, giving an earthy, dark brew without decades of waiting

Herbal infusions

Herbal "teas" such as chamomile, peppermint, rooibos, hibiscus and ginger are not made from Camellia sinensis at all, so strictly they are infusions or tisanes. Most are naturally caffeine-free. Many Korean traditional teas, such as yuja-cha and boricha, belong in this group.

Blends and flavoured teas

Earl Grey (black tea scented with bergamot), jasmine tea (usually green tea scented with jasmine blossom) and masala chai (black tea with spices) are built on true tea with something added.

Where to start

Try one tea from each category side by side, brewed carefully, and notice which you return to. Most people find they lean towards either the fresh, green end or the dark, roasted end. Which type of tea did you start with, and which surprised you? Share your favourites or ask a question in the comments.