Discovering Your Tea Time: A Guide to Understanding Tea Types

"Once upon a time King Shen Nong, known as the father of agriculture and medicine, decreed that for health reasons his subjects must boil water before drinking it. One day as Shen Nong sat in the shade of a tea tree boiling water, a light breeze blew some of the tea leaves into the kettle of boiling water; when he drank the infusion he marveled at its delicious taste and at once felt invigorated. Tea had been invented."

From Tea in China: The History of China's National Drink by John Evans

Since the invention of tea, people around the world have developed numerous types of tea. The sheer magnitude of tea varieties can leave one feeling slightly unnerved as they stand in front of the tea aisle at the local grocery store trying to sort through their choices. However, the decision can be simplified by learning about the different tea types. Although a myriad of tea varieties exist, most of these teas can be sorted into five main categories based on the different methods through which the teas are processed: black, green, oolong, white, compressed, and scented.

Black tea, referred to as "red tea" in China, is the category in which the tea is fermented and baked. Black tea is processed using oxidation. In other words, the leaves are exposed to air for a certain amount of time to encourage natural chemical reactions. Because of these reactions, the leaves' color changes from green to copper. As a result, the flavor of the tea is intensified. Due to this process, the flavor of black teas is full and complex. Common black tea varieties include Earl Grey, English Breakfast and Darjeeling. However, the most flavorful and highly-regarded brands of black tea come from China and include Qihong, Dianhong Suhong, Chuanhong and Huhong.