During this oxidation process, oxygen interacts with the tea plant’s cell walls to turn the leaves a rich dark brown to black color, and adds malty, fruity or even smoky notes to the flavor. With black tea, the leaves are allowed to fully oxidize before they are heat-processed and dried. What differentiates black tea from green tea is the oxidation in the production process. Even our popular English Breakfast and Earl Grey blends are made from black tea leaves. Green tea: With green tea, the tea leaves are harvested and then quickly heated-by pan firing or steaming-and dried to prevent excess oxidation from occurring, which would turn the green leaves brown and alter their fresh-picked flavor.īlack tea: When people talk generally of tea in Western culture, they’re often referring to black tea: sun tea, sweet tea, iced tea, afternoon tea…these are typically made using black tea. So, let’s break down these main four varieties as well as some common spice and herbal varietals: There aren’t actually any other types of “tea” plants, but rather lots of other herbs that we can steep in warm water to make delicious beverages. The varieties of tea made from Camellia sinensis all primarily differ based on how long they are oxidized during processing-black tea is fully oxidized while green tea is minimally oxidized. Tea must be made from Camellia sinensis to qualify as “true” tea. Each of these teas are made from the same tea leaves, from the same species of plant, Camellia sinensis. According to experts, there are actually only a few tea types that can be considered“true” tea: namely, black, green, oolong, pu-erh, and white teas. Like with most beverages, the world of tea can get a bit snobby. So, pour yourself a cup and enjoy this read with us! We won’t go into too much of the history of tea in this article-there’s simply too much to cover-but we will go into some basics about the different types of tea, the environmental impacts, and things to consider when buying your own tea. While we are clearly coffee stans here, given all of the articles we have published about the drink ( “I Dream of Beans”, “The Moral Bean”, “ The Real Buzz About Coffee”), we also love the varied world of tea and how much there is to learn about all of these different types of plants, beverages, and the cultures behind them. It’s also a great option if you want to drink something warm without the intense jolt of caffeine that can come from a cup of coffee. While I am a big coffee gal, there is nothing quite like a cup of tea to warm me up at literally any time of day.
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