It's amazing how many types of tea can be produced from one single plant, Camelia sinensis.
We can divide them into 6 basic types:
- white
- yellow
- green
- oolong
- black
- post-fermented
„Tea varies as much in appearance as the different faces of men“
Hui Tsung (Chinese emperor 1082. - 1135.)
The division into 6 basic types is based on how the harvested leaves are processed. Here, we’ll list them in order, from the least processed white tea to the most processed post-fermented teas.
Before processing, the plant can vary greatly in terms of variety, region and altitude where it grows, the age of the bush or tree, pre-harvest treatment, and the harvesting method. Each of these factors introduces additional variations in the timing and selection of leaves: spring (early and late spring), summer, or autumn harvest. Only the bud, the bud with one or two leaves, or older leaves can be harvested. The leaves may be picked either mechanically or by hand.
The same tea variety grown under different climatic conditions, regions, and altitudes can ultimately have a completely different flavor. Some tea producers, particularly on plantations at lower altitudes (e.g., Assam, Kenya), grow tea under the shade of trees (commonly *albizzia, erythrina, gliricidia,* and silver oak) to protect it from direct sunlight. In Japan, artificial shading of tea bushes is used 2 to 3 weeks before harvest (e.g., Gyokuro, Kabusecha) to enhance the tea's flavor.
Many paths branch out before tea becomes ready for preparation, but the adventure doesn’t end there. Ahead lies an intricate network of choices—how the fortunate drinker will prepare it, depending on their preferences, needs, or the type of tea.
Variations in preparation start with the water temperature: ice, cold water, room-temperature water for so-called cold steeping, or, if you prefer a warmer drink, you can heat the water to anywhere between 50°C and 100°C. Besides water temperature, the ratio of water to tea can also vary. Time plays a crucial role as well—how long the tea leaves are steeped, and how many times.
Gyokuro, one of the finest Japanese green teas, is just one example of how a single type of tea can be prepared in various ways, using different amounts of water heated to different temperatures. It can be prepared with ice, cold water, room-temperature water, or water heated to 50°C, 70–80°C. You can use 60 or 100–200 ml of water. The preparation time can range from 2 to 14 minutes, or even several hours (for cold steeping)...
With all these elements, you can experiment until you find the perfect combination of flavor, aroma, and the tea's effect on your mind and body—one you'll always happily return to. Whatever combination you choose, the health benefits are always positive, so you can’t go wrong. That’s the true beauty and value of this incredible beverage. Over time, you become a true master of tea preparation, eagerly looking forward to your next *session.
„Tea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its noblest qualities"
Okakuro Kakuzo; The Book of Tea – 1906
"If, despite the countless variations tea goes through—from cultivation to processing and preparation—you haven’t found a favorite, perhaps you’ll enjoy one of the blends: multiple black teas mixed into one (English Breakfast), green tea combined with jasmine flowers, black tea with bergamot (a citrus fruit similar to an orange), oolong with bergamot, green tea with mint, or tea in citrus peel... You’re sure to find something to suit your taste."
When it comes to processing tea, it’s all about managing how the tea leaves oxidize. You’ve got everything from the least processed, non-oxidized white tea to the most oxidized black tea.
After picking, the leaves are first left to wither so they can lose some moisture, and then the main tea processing steps follow:
- Drying
- Naturally, in the sun.
- Artificially, in controlled conditions by blowing in air.
- A combination of natural and artificial
2. Frying or steaming – stopping oxidation
3. Rolling – with some teas
- by hand
- mechanically, by machines
4. Oxidation (fermentation) - it is supported by certain enzymes in the plant leaf.
5. Drying after oxidation (85 – 88 C; 185 – 190 F) – no more than 12% moisture should remain in the leaves, because then they are susceptible to mold, nor less than approx. 3% moisture, because the tea would then it would taste burnt or tasteless
6. Gradation, sorting – processed tea leaves are divided into different categories of tea quality
WHITE TEA
White tea is the least processed, non-oxidized tea, and the leaves are pretty much in their original, natural state. That’s why it’s considered one of the teas with the strongest antioxidant properties (just behind matcha, that powdered stuff). They only pick the buds—young leaves or maybe one or two young leaves along with a bud—going through a simple, controlled drying process. Because it’s such a straightforward process, even the tiniest mistake can totally mess up the flavor when you’re sipping on it.
The flavor is super light, with a subtle nutty note, and sometimes it has a really faint fruity smell and taste. The dry leaves smell like dried grass. Its OG homeland is the Tai mountain in China, where the legendary original story of white tea comes from.
Tai Mountain - "Peaceful Mountain" in Shandong Province - in 1987 was inscribed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in Asia. It is associated with the mythology of dawn, birth and renewal (a fitting connection with tea).
One of the myths says that white tea is actually tea from the Song Dynasty, like a thousand years ago. This myth comes from the fact that an emperor wrote in his tea book that his favorite tea was white tea, but he was really talking about leaves with very pale buds of green tea. So, white tea as a plant doesn’t really exist. It’s still all about the plant Camellia sinensis, which just goes through minimal processing.
Another myth is the origin story. Sometime in the 13th century, a woman made tea from the divine tea tree on Mount Tai, and used it to treat smallpox. The story is just a myth, there are no facts or evidence to support the story.
But the fact is, white tea production started about 200 years ago, the way it’s made today. There’s documentation from the late 19th century showing that the tea bushes used for picking white tea leaves were brought over from Tai Mu Mountain. At first, white tea wasn’t really popular with the locals; it was mostly exported with marketing stories claiming that white tea was grown just for the emperor, and that the leaves were picked by virgins by hand.
Everything changed about ten years ago when people started realizing the health benefits of white tea, and it got a lot of promotion. Then, in 2013, folks recognized the potential of aged white tea leaves and figured out how to brew an amazing tea from them. Things moved quickly after that—white tea became super popular all around the world, and demand shot up, which boosted production and really helped the economic situation for white tea producers. Meanwhile, black tea production dropped, and Fujian became a hub for production that spread to other provinces in China.
There are 4 ways to pick white tea, which can be recognized in the name of the tea:
- Yin Zhen – just a bud – a young leaf that has just sprouted
- Mu Dan – a bud and one leaf
- Gong Mei – similar to Mu Dan, but the leaves are thinner and harvested in the fall; traders market it as Mu Dan, rarely as Gong Mei
- Shou Mei – no buds, only leaves, harvested in late spring, last harvest in spring
After picking, various variations in processing follow.
Immediately after picking, the leaves are left to wither. The cell walls begin to break down, the flavor changes, becoming sweeter, nuttier. The tea loses its grassy flavor. After they have wilted, the leaves continue to dry.
Two main factors play a big role: temperature and humidity. The higher the temperature, the faster the enzymes react, the leaves dry out quicker, and they oxidize faster (the oxidation process takes less time). On the flip side, when there’s more humidity, the leaves take longer to dry, giving more time for flavor development and more oxidation. Managing these two factors is a real art; if the leaves dry out too much or too quickly, oxidation stops too soon, and there isn’t much time for the flavor to mature. But if you leave the leaves wet for too long, you’ll end up with a pretty bitter, sour, veggie taste.
After drying, the leaves are roasted. Traditionally, this was done (much less often nowadays) over charcoal at a low temperature of around 40 to 50ᵒ C. This roasting over charcoal also adds a specific flavor that changes from very cool and fresh to a tea that has a warmer flavor, a flavor that provides warming energy.
Drying can be achieved naturally in the sun and artificially in large spaces, halls, by blowing air through large layers of leaves.
The sun adds a special flavor and aroma to the tea that’s drying out with its UV rays. You gotta pay attention to the details: how thick the pile of leaves is, how well it’s ventilated—like the airflow, the humidity in the air, how long it’ll be sitting in the sun, and how strong the sun is. It takes a master’s touch to juggle all these components, balance them out, and end up with tea that’s super tasty to sip on.
Artificial drying is done by modern tea producers by layering the leaves (about 1.5 to 2 inches thick) on large surfaces that have air vented from below. The temperature is gradually increased with computer precision over a set period, without moving, mixing, or shaking the leaves— they just sit still. The leaves change their smell from grassy to fresh-cut green apple. After that, the leaves are about 90% dry. For the next 20 hours, the leaves are roasted at a low temperature, between 30 and 50°C (85 to 120°F); this helps keep the flavor fresh. This process is semi-automated but can also be fully automated. Using a semi-automated or automated method makes it easier and faster to produce a large quantity of tea with standardized quality. However, when the leaves are dried in the sun instead of with artificially ventilated air, you end up with tea that’s way tastier, sweeter, and has more fruity aroma.
There are various variations of artificial drying of leaves, which is actually playing with the time and temperature of drying and frying.
Frying also has its own variations: in the time the leaves are fried, at what temperature they are fried, and whether they are fried in large woks heated by electricity or charcoal.
Traditional charcoal roasting is done in layers: ash-coal-ash-thin cloth-tea. It is roasted at a temperature of 35-40 C, for 6-7 hours, and acquires a nougat flavor, nutty-very syrupy texture.
Typical representatives of white tea are Chinese Bai Mu Dan (Pai Mu Tan) and Silver Needle. In Turkey, which is the fifth largest producer of tea in the world, tea like Silver Needle (only the buds are harvested) is known as Golden Needle. It is estimated that about 3,000 buds are needed for 1 kg of tea. The Turks do not export it but keep it for their own enjoyment.
GREEN TEA
Green tea, like white tea, is not oxidized or fermented, but it undergoes a bit more processing. Just like with white tea, it's crucial to prevent oxidation of the picked leaves. Usually, the buds and one or two of the first young leaves are harvested.
After picking, the tea leaves get dried out and then go through a process to stop oxidation. The method in China is different from Japan. In the Chinese way, the leaves are quickly pan-fried at around 100°C in small batches of 250 to 500 grams. As soon as you see steam rising from the leaves, the frying stops. This kills off the enzymes in the leaves and prevents oxidation. On the other hand, the Japanese steam their leaves instead of frying them. That’s why Japanese green teas have a fresh, grassy, cooling taste, while Chinese green teas have a more complex, nutty flavor with a roasted taste and just a hint of grassiness in the background.
Besides the processing, the difference between Chinese teas and some Japanese teas can also be in the shading process before harvesting in Japan (like Gyokuro and Kabusecha), which enhances the freshness of green tea and brings out a flavor known as umami.
Green tea is both invigorating and calming in a very balanced way.
It has been prepared since ancient times in China, Japan, Taiwan, and at the beginning of the 20th century in Georgia.
Some of the more famous green teas are: Chinese Green Coil (Bi Luo Chun) and Long Jing-Dragonwell, and Japanese Sencha (mostly spring harvest), Bancha (autumn harvest), Gyokuro (spring harvest; tea bushes are placed under shade, artificially or naturally for about 3 weeks) and Matcha (powdered tea).
YELLOW TEA
It’s very rare and produced in small quantities. In ancient times, it was reserved only for the emperor. Nowadays, it’s used as a gift tea for important people. The method of producing yellow tea has been lost for a long time. It’s made very similarly to green tea, but the difference is that after frying, the leaves are divided into several piles and exposed to steam before being covered to let the heat work a bit more in combination with moisture. This process removes the grassy taste from the tea and results in a smoother flavor that’s closer to white tea.
So the taste of yellow tea is actually something between white and green. It retains the freshness of green combined with the soft, elegant taste of white tea, to which is added the persistent sweet taste typical of yellow tea.
This type of tea is very calming.
One of the representatives of yellow tea is the Chinese Huo Shan.
OOLONG
Semi-oxidized tea falls in the range of 15% to 85% oxidation. The difference in oxidation percentage also affects the flavor and aroma of the tea; it ranges from light, fresh, fruity flavors with a creamy note to darker oolong, where sweetness develops along with a subtle taste of dryness and roasting. Typically, after the final processing, oolong teas are lightly roasted again to enhance the resulting flavor and aroma.
Larger leaves (two to three) are picked, then dried or withered, and after that, they are rolled or shaken. This causes tiny damages along the edges of the leaves (which is noticeable on damp leaves after soaking). These damaged leaves release their essential oils, which react with the air and cause oxidation. Once the desired level of oxidation is reached, the leaves are roasted to stop further oxidation. After that, the leaves are processed by rolling and further drying. This results in leaves shaped like small balls or strips a few centimeters long.
The flavor of oolong tea combines the fresh taste of green tea with the sweetness, richness, and complexity of darker teas. Because of its complexity and wide range of flavor variations, oolong pairs well with many types of food, unlike milder teas like white and yellow. Darker oolong (and generally darker teas) are better suited for stronger dishes. Lighter oolong is better for desserts due to its milky, nutty, and creamy flavor.
Oolong teas, thanks to Japanese scientists, specifically Dr. Tsushida Tojiro, can be processed not only in the traditional way but also to contain increased levels of GABA—gamma-aminobutyric acid, which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Neurotransmitters help nerve signals travel between cells (neurons). The chemical functions of GABA prevent excessive excitation of the nervous system by controlling the movement of signals between neurons. Therefore, GABA tea has significant health benefits.
Drinking GABA tea may be beneficial for people with autism, as proven by one small study.
Although this is a small study, it has given us great benefit and promising insights. It is also important to note that there is absolutely no harm in drinking GABA oolong tea for adults or children with autism.
For a tea to be called GABA tea, the leaves must contain at least 150 mg of GABA per 100 g (which is 25 times more than regular oolong which has about 6 mg)
During processing, the leaves are roasted and rotated in special cylinders, alternately first in a vacuum and then exposed to ambient air. This cycle is repeated three times. This method increases the GABA content in the tea leaves. The RUBY 18 variety is often used for GABA tea, which is also used to make black tea, but with a different processing method.
Typical representatives of oolong are Chinese Tie Guan Yin, Da Hong Pao and Dan Cong…
BLACK TEA
The Chinese refer to black tea as "red tea" because of the reddish-brown color of the liquid. Black tea is the most oxidized, at 90-95%. Young leaves are picked and then rolled, either by hand or machine, to create as much damage as possible, which releases the maximum amount of essential oils that react with the surrounding air and cause oxidation, leading to a significant change in the chemical composition of the tea leaves. Through oxidation, tannins develop, giving the tea a stronger, bolder, and richer flavor. During processing, many of the steps are similar to those used for oolong teas, but black tea leaves can also be further roasted and rolled. A big difference in flavor can be achieved if the exact same tea is processed to a certain point in the same way but rolled differently. Hand-rolled tea always has a fuller taste than machine-rolled tea, but there are variations even within that. Tea that is hand-rolled in circular motions to form small balls can have an exceptional flavor. However, if you roll it by rubbing it between your palms like when you're cold and want to warm up—moving your hands back and forth—you can achieve a tea with a top-notch flavor.
The most famous are: Chinese Keemun (Qi Mun), Yunnan (Yun Nan), Jin Jun Mei and Lapsang Souchong, and Indian black teas of the Assamica subspecies, with a robust flavor. Russian black teas are very strong, which is why they are drunk with a sugar cube in their teeth.
Ecstasy is a cup of tea and a piece of sugar in your mouth.
Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837)
POST-FERMENTED TEA
For post-fermentation, the most commonly used teas are white tea and Pu-Erh tea, which are also referred to as dark teas because of the color of the liquid produced when steeping these types of tea (it’s actually the post-fermented Pu-Erh teas that give the liquid its dark color; post-fermented white tea isn’t as dark).
The white tea mentioned at the beginning of this post can be aged for another 6 to 7 months after various processing methods to become very dry (after the spring harvest in April or May), and then it is roasted over wood charcoal to finally "lock in" the flavor of the tea and change its nature from cold to warm. This process enhances the nutty flavor and gives it a syrupy texture, making this processed white tea suitable for producing aged or post-fermented tea, which is then pressed into large “cakes.”
Post-fermented tea can be stored for a longer period after processing. The oxidation/fermentation process is extended over many years, taking place very slowly under strictly controlled conditions. The older the tea, the richer the flavor.
One-year-old tea is tea, two-year-old tea is medicine, seven-year-old tea is a treasure.
Old Chinese proverb
Pu Erh teas are further fermented in two basic ways: dry and wet.
Suhi postupak je sporiji te samim tim i dugotrajniji. Kod ovakvog postupka se listići obrađeni u varijanti zelenog čaja prešaju u neki od ovdje navedenih oblika i puštaju da odstoje duže vrijeme u kontroliranim uvjetima.
The wet method is a bit more complex. It involves two phases of fermentation, and some people refer to Pu-Erh fermented using this method as cooked Pu-Erh because, in the initial phase, after sun-drying, the leaves are soaked in shallow water (about 30 cm) under a cover. This accelerates the fermentation process, allowing various bacteria and microorganisms to promote fermentation. The process must be carried out very skillfully, and the leaves need to be stirred or turned occasionally to prevent mold from forming, ensuring that fermentation occurs instead of spoilage, which will eventually produce a delicious brew. After this first phase, the leaves are pressed into “cakes,” cubes, or bricks and left to age for a longer period to further ferment, resulting in a fuller texture and stronger flavor of the tea. Teas fermented this way usually have an earthy taste, reminiscent of being deep in an old forest.
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