The seven different types of tea
How to distinguish the different teas and judge their quality
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By Angela Chiu  | Published Mar 2008

Tea has been an integral part of Chinese culture for thousands of years (and in my family, it is still part of our culture. Whenever guests come over to our house, my parents still offer them hot, freshly brewed tea). Today, tea is just as popular in the West as it is in the East. However, today, people have uses for tea other than just drinking plain (in Asia, the traditional way of drinking tea is just having it hot and plain – no sugar, no milk, no additives… just tea). Some unorthodox ways of having and using tea include: instant just-add-water powdered tea mixes, iced tea, bubble tea (I love bubble tea from Q-cup), milk tea, lemon tea (as well as raspberry), tea flavored candy (which, I hear, is rapidly gaining popularity), green tea ice cream, tea flavored deserts, tea scented sprays and perfumes, and even pillows made from dried, used tea leaves.

People can classify teas by their process of creation (non-fermented, partially fermented, or completely fermented), by the location where the leaves are picked (some tea plants can only be grown in certain places), and by the tea’s taste or color. The process of preparing tea leaves for commercial use is as follows:

1) Tea producers gather and collect the tea leaves from their perspective plants

2) After fresh leaves are gathered, they are placed in a large container where they are either lightly steamed or heated (to about 230 degrees Celsius). This puri fies the leaves.

3) The leaves are then rolled/formed into tight balls and dried out. After this process, the tea has the choice to either go through with the fermentation process or to be dried out and packaged.

The 7 types of Eastern teas are green tea, red tea, dark green tea, white tea, yellow tea, black tea, and Flower tea. Of these teas, green tea and Oolong tea are the most common.

Green tea (my personal favorite) has a fresh and light taste. The leaves from green tea should be brewed in water that is not too hot as to not harm the flavor (about 80 degrees Celsius). Recently, scientists have also claimed that green tea may help aid in the fight against certain cancers. Red tea is darker and has a stronger taste (Lipton is red tea). Dark green tea (such as Oolong and Iron Buddha) is a golden yellow color. The tea is somewhat bitter but it leaves a semisweet aftertaste. You can also brew dark tea leaves repeatedly where as with the other teas, one may lose the taste after the second pot. To brew dark teas, hot water of 100 degrees Celsius is needed to fully bring out the taste. To make white tea, only the tips of white tea leaves are used. The tea brews out to be a light yellow color. The tea is also fresh like green tea and has an internal cleansing effect. Yellow tea, like its name, brews out to be a light yellow color. Black tea has the darkest color, the longest fermentation time, and needs to be brewed with hot water (100 degrees Celsius). The tea from black tea leaves brews a dark brown tea. And finally, flower tea is a tea that is made from 3 parts tea leaves and 1 part flower petals (such as Jasmine, Rose, Lotus, Orange blossoms). The petals are added to the tea leaves during the process of drying out the leaves to add a unique flavor to the tea. (Earl Grey tea is flower tea).

Tea is a great substitute for sugary sodas or sweet juices; it is very beneficial to your health. Tea contains vitamins A, C, D, E, K, B1, B2, and B6 and also serves to clear out your digestive system and lower your blood pressure. It also is suppose to clear your skin and clear your body of impurities.

Tea can be judged by 4 qualities; clarity, color consistency, taste, and fragrance. Good tea should be clear and free of impurities (the tea should not be foggy or cloudy when brewed), be consistent in color (one pot of the same tea should not be darker than another pot), have a generally pleasant and fresh taste (it should not taste stagnant or stale and should be refreshing to drink) and finally, when brewed a tea should emit a subtle, pleasant smelling fragrance.

I hope this article about tea has given you some information that you did not previously know about tea. Likewise, Asia Trend still encourages everyone to reply to any articles we publish. For example, Roy has replied to the article in our previous issue titled “The Four Virtuous Plants”. This is a snippet from his letter:

“First, about bamboo, one of the important characters of bamboo is [that they are] vertically straight, which implies uprightness.

Secondly, bamboo is hollow, referring to modest.

Thirdly, bamboo has bamboo-joints which take the meaning of moral integrity.

Finally, the four plants together are called four noble men because they possess all of the virtues of a Chinese gentleman in the past time.”

Thank you, Roy, for taking the time to reply back to my previous article. I’m sure people will benefit from learning this additional information. Thanks for reading!