When you talk about all the different types of tea, for the uninitiated, terms such as green tea, white tea, black tea and oolong tea could be confusing to say the least! So what exactly is the difference among all these?

Are there different kinds of plants that give us the different kinds of teas?

Not quite; essentially all tea comes from the same basic plant, the Camellia sinensis plant. The difference is not in the plant but in the processing.  Simply put, the difference in each of these teas is in the method used to process them and the extent to which the leaf is processed. Chiefly the difference is that of the level of oxidization or fermenting.

Black Tea

This is your common or garden variety of tea, the most popular, and the most widely consumed in the world.  The term for the manner in which black tea is processed, is CTC or cut, trim (or torn), curled. Here the leaves are plucked, allowed to wither and dried.

Then they are rolled in a way that the leaves are crushed so that the oxidization process begins. This changes the leaves to a copper color. Then the leaves are allowed to ferment in an environment of controlled temperature and humidity.

Thereafter the leaves are heated and dried in ovens, which is the ‘curling process’ and which is when the color changes to dark brownish black which we are all so familiar with.

Black tea has the highest level of caffeine from among all kinds of tea.

White Tea

This is the least processed variety of tea and the taste therefore is most like fresh leaves. This variety of tea has the lowest amount of caffeine and therefore the highest antioxidant properties. White and green teas are the least processed of all varieties of tea and undergo no fermentation. The process of crushing the leaves to expose the leaf enzymes to the air is absent here.

The reason for the whitish appearance of the tea is because of the stage at which they are picked: the tiny white hairs of new growth are still present on the leaves.

This is a light flavored tea and steeping is required to be done in water that is below boiling point.

Green Tea

Like white tea, this tea also undergoes minimum processing and no oxidization.  This is the tea that has the most leaf like or even grass like taste to it. The leaves are allowed to dry and then steamed or fired and then the leaves are rolled in a variety of ways and tightness. Since it is the oxidization process that gives tea the black appearance and here no oxidization takes place, the leaves retain much of their green color.

Next we shall look at Oolong tea and what is so special about it.

Tags: benefit, black, chamomile, fermentation, Health, oolong, oxidization, plant, tea, white