Types of Tea - Know your Teas

Do you sometimes feel a little overwhelmed with all the different types of teas available today. I know I do - especially when I’m faced with a decision on what to buy at a tea store or when I’m at a dinner party and the host gives me a slew of choices.

There is black tea, chinese black tea, green tea, oolong tea, white tea, roobois tea, herbal teas, organic tea, gourmet tea, fair trade tea......and the list goes on.

As I learn more about tea and understand better what the different types of teas offer in terms of aroma, strength and taste, I find it helps me with my choice and I sometimes weigh the benefits of tea types depending on how I feel and what would suit me best.

So, given the huge assortment of teas in the marketplace, it may be difficult to choose the right one for that “special” occasion, or if you are looking for something specific with tea health benefits or even just tea for everyday consumption.

Based on my experiences, here are a few pointers:

Rule # 1: Have fun with it

Rule # 2: You don’t need to be a tea expert to enjoy tea Start experimenting with the different teas. Try and distinguish the aroma and the body of infusion which is the taste and mouth feel. I’ll try and help define what is a good “morning tea”, a “dessert tea” etc but remember – Rule #1 – Have fun with it so go with what you enjoy.

If you are hosting a party, this is information that you can share with your guests and it may make the process more entertaining, informative and interesting as they make their selections and you never know where tea conversations can take you.

One of my recent tea conversations took us to Sri Lanka, a country that my dinner host had visited just recently and she gave us insight into the tea plantations she had visited and the discussion then steered into an interesting chat around fair trade tea.

Going back to the different types of tea - basically, there are four types of tea:

Black Tea

Green Tea

Oolong Tea

White Tea These teas are all harvested from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis but are processed differently to attain different levels of oxidation.

Black tea is oxidized for the longest period of time which produces the darkest of the tea. Green tea is steamed very soon after picking to stop the oxidation process. Oolong tea is left to oxidize a bit longer and is the type used by most Chinese restaurants. White tea is the least processed of all teas.

Here is more information on other types of teas:

Fair Trade Tea
Bubble Tea
Organic Tea

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