All tea comes from the one type of bush leaf, the camellia sinensis leaf. The only difference which creates the main 6 varietals of Chinese tea are all down to one basic process… oxidisation…. yes amazing.
If we add on hugely popular crafted teas (e.g. blends like Jasmine, bottled teas, bubble teas and other mixes of tea and non-tea ingredients), there are 7 main types of tea in China. The 6 basic types of tea are typically ordered by amount of oxidisation (from least to most).
The oxidisation (or lack of) of tea leaves is a creative, often secretive and sometimes complex process which creates leaves of different appearance, colour and teas of a whole spectrum of colours and flavours. Coming off the bush, Chinese tea is thus treated differently.
Below is a simple summary of how different teas become different.
The above general processes have often been developed into highly intricate and very different ways of making tea. One farm or factory may shape more than once or before and after oxidisation (which is most complex in Oolong teas). Green teas can often have their flavours sealed in in very different ways (there’s steaming & sun drying to name two).
And that’s what really makes tea a fascinating world to delve into, explore and ultimately take pleasure from. From the most humble tea bag blended from teas from all over the world to the fullest single farm, single leaf tea (yes, one leaf in a cup), the cup really does reflect where and how the tea grew and was produced… Similar to the idea of terroir in wine, teas from all over the world have their own characteristic which becomes more fascinating the more you explore… we, for one, are hooked!
