The Different Varieties of Tea

Iced tea is my beverage of choice and I prefer it black and unsweetened with lots of ice. Apparently, I am not alone in my love of tea, because tea is second only to water in world-wide consumption. One of the lovely aspects of tea is the immense variety of types, flavors and serving methods which can prevent boredom from setting in. When you visit a grocery store, the tea selection can be quite overwhelming and it is quite amazing to learn that all true teas are harvested from a few different varieties of one plant, the Camellia sinensis.

It is how the tea leaves are processed after harvesting that determines whether they will be classified as one of the four most common varieties of tea: black, green, white, or oolong. Black and oolong teas are allowed to oxidize, which is the enzymatic process by which chlorophyll breaks down, causing the leaves to darken (black tea is oxidized longer than oolong tea). Once the leaves are oxidized as desired, they are heated and dried. Green tea, on the other hand, is heated soon after picking to prevent the oxidation process from occurring. White tea is made from young leaves or buds that are harvested in the early spring and they have little or no chlorophyll in them which causes the finished product to have a silvery appearance after processing. The resulting brewed beverage is paler than that of black tea and is delicately flavored.

Some black varieties are named after the region in which they are grown. Some examples are Assam, Darjeeling (grown in India), Ceylon (grown in Sri Lanka), and Lapsang Souchong (grown in China). Flavored tea beverages are created by either blending different varieties with each other or with flavoring agents. One of my favorite beverages is Earl Grey which is black tea flavored with bergamot oil (bergamot is a type of citrus fruit). English Breakfast tea is made from blending different varieties of black tea together (typically Assam, Ceylon and Kenyan, but the mixture can vary). Another flavored beverage that has become popular in the U.S. in recent years is masala chai which originated in India. Chai is black tea brewed with one or more of the following spices: cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, peppercorn, and cloves with cardamom being the dominant flavor and then combined with milk and sugar. Another of my favorite teas is jasmine tea which is created by combining jasmine blossoms with either white or green tea (black tea is too overpowering for the delicate flavor of the jasmine).