What is tea?
What is tea?
Tea is an infusion of leaves from the plant Camellia sinensis, which originally comes from China. Next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage worldwide. Infusions made from herbs and other plants that do not come from the Camellia sinensis plant are not classified as tea and will not be mentioned here. Our website is solely about tea, hence the name “Simply Tea.”
Tea Types
All teas come from the plant Camellia sinensis. Its fresh leaves are rich in polyphenols, catechins, and flavonoids, better known in Denmark as antioxidants.
The leaves also contain enzymes that react with oxygen during processing and help change the chemical composition and color of the tea. When the leaves are crushed, rolled, or simply allowed to rest, the catechins develop into theaflavins and thearubigins.
In the tea industry, this oxidation process is mistakenly referred to as fermentation. It is more accurate to say that an oxidation process occurs. Oxidation happens when the leaves are exposed to oxygen, while fermentation occurs when oxygen is removed from the leaves. Fermentation happens when the sugars in the tea leaves react with bacteria, yeast, or other natural microorganisms and break down. It often occurs that tea, such as puerh, is fermented but may have been subjected to oxidation beforehand. Teas such as white, green, oolong, and black are oxidized, while yellow and puerh teas have undergone a shorter or longer fermentation.
Although there are thousands of tea varieties, the six categories are divided based on when the oxidation process is halted. These processing methods have given rise to six different categories: white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and puerh.
What is White Tea?
White tea is a very mild and approachable tea. It has a lovely refreshing aroma with a velvety and slightly floral and fruity taste.
What is Yellow Tea?
Yellow teas are rare and unique, grown exclusively in the mountainous regions of China in Anhui, Hunan, and Sichuan provinces.
What is Green Tea?
Green tea, which originated in China, was the first tea to be produced and is still the most popular in Asia.
What is Oolong Tea?
For tea enthusiasts, oolong tea is perhaps the most sought-after of all tea types. These teas vary greatly from one another, with unique leaves, color shades, and oxidation levels ranging from 25 to 80 percent, along with repeated roasting depending on where and how these teas are produced.
What is Black Tea?
Black tea is the most misunderstood of all tea categories. Like white, yellow, green, oolong, and puerh teas, black tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis. Black tea contains just as many of the super-healthy polyphenols as the other categories.
What is Puerh Tea?
In China and Japan, there are fermented teas that share the common name Heicha, which means “black tea,” but should not be confused with the black tea we know in the West, as it is referred to as “red tea” in China.