Types of Tea


With the different varieties of tea available – white, green, herbal etc... this may sound rather confusing. In simple term, all teas are originated from the same plant, camellia sinensis. Depending on how the tea leaves are processed, they can be categorized into 4 main categories, Green, White, Oolong and Black.

Green Tea
Tea leaves are steamed as soon as they are plucked to stop the fermentation process.  It then goes through various drying and rolling processes.  Extensive research has been conducted indicating green tea has many health benefits.

White Tea
Young tea leaves that are plucked shortly before the buds have fully opened.  Tea leaves are dried naturally without any processing.  It is very lightly oxidized with most of the vitamins and nutrients retained.  This is by far the most natural tea, virtually unprocessed.

Oolong Tea
Oolong tea is also known as semi fermented tea.  As the name suggests, it undergoes half of the fermentation process and thus has a stronger flavour than white tea and green tea.  It is a popular tea in China, Taiwan and Japan.

Black Tea
Black tea is the most popular tea amongst Western countries.  It undergoes the full fermentation process, hence is strong in flavour and contains higher level of caffeine.  Recent research suggests that black tea may also carry many health benefits.