Types of Tea - Know your Teas

Do you sometimes feel a little overwhelmed with all the different types of teas that are in the market today, and the choices are many! 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 offers me a slew of choices.

Some of the more common tea types are black tea, green tea, oolong tea, white tea, roobois tea, herbal teas, organic tea, gourmet tea, fair trade tea......and the list goes on.

I find that as I expand my tea circle and learn more about this beverage, it helps me understand better what the different teas offer in terms of aroma, strength and taste and ultimately it helps with my choice.

Sometimes I weigh the benefits of tea types depending on how I feel and what would suit my mood. There are also the many Health Benefits of Tea.

As you learn more about the different tea types and their medicinal properties, you can make more informed choices. All the teas offer varying healing properties. For example, if you are having digestion problems, try Fennel Tea. It helps to settle the stomach.

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 will 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 conversation 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.

If you love experimenting with different types of tea but don't want to spend too much money until you've at least had a taste to see if a particular blend pleases your palate and senses, try the Tea Taster's Sampler. It's a best seller of 31 extraordinary whole leaf teas packaged individually in an elegant and beautiful hand crafted pandan leaf sampler box. It also makes a beautiful gift.

A little tidbit on pandan leaves. They are used in South East Asian cooking and have a distinct and wonderful aroma. They are usually added to curries and baking. When I go to Singapore, pandan cake (very green in colour), is a definite must for me. Pandan leaves are also used for making handicrafts, hence the gift box, an eco-friendly product.

Back to Tea. So, what are the more common 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 a few other types of teas:

Fair Trade Tea
Bubble Tea
Organic Tea