1. Home
  2. The First Circle
  3. Types of Chinese tea

Lesson #1. Types of Chinese tea

There are six basic types of Chinese tea: green, white, yellow, red, oolong and dark tea (puerh, pu'er).

Chinese green tea "White Hairy Monkey"

Green tea undergoes most tender processing. Therefore the beverage in its chemical composition comes out to be the closest to the growing tea leaf. It is refreshing, gives vivacity and strength to body.

Chinese yellow tea "Junshan Mountain Silver Needles"

Yellow tea is similar to green tea but exposed to heaping procedure. Compared to green tea it is less irritating for the stomach. Its taste is peculiar however complicated and laborious production process makes it quite rare to find.

Chinese white tea "White Peony"

White tea undergoes minor processing. It is produced of a specific sort of tea plant and in China is considered to be rather medicine than a mere delicious beverage. Good for everyday use as anticancer aid in a polluted megalopolis.

Yunnan Red Tea

Red tea in Europe is known as «black». Comforting and warming it bears the energy of fire. It boosts immunity, invigorates. In our culture at the table it is associated with sweets, however Chinese tea is a stand-alone serving to be enjoyed without any supplementing products.

Taiwanese Alishan oolong

Oolong - tea complicated in production with bright fruit and floral aromas. Very tasty and versatile. Today it becomes extremely popular for weight loss properties due to the large content of fat burning polyphenols.

Sheng pu'er

Dark tea is a special type of tea. Famous for its unusual production technology, and as a result - a special taste, odor and effects on the body. The most famous dark tea - pu'er, is produced of leafs originating exceptionally from Yunnan province using two different technologies: shu and shen pu'er.

Such division is based upon the diverse technologies of producing dry tea from the raw leaf. The harsh examples assume that it is possible to produce all types of tea from the same tea plant. Theoretically this can be achieved. The tea made using oolong technology will be called «oolong tea» however its taste qualities may not meet expectations. For each of the aforementioned tea types besides the processing technology many other nuances are of significance.

Tea garden
Variety of tea leaves

And upon consideration of all nuances the production technology perfected by centuries makes possible to acquire the desired tea type. However we’ll get back to the technology later.

If you decide to try all types of tea in order to get an idea of their taste it is worth to keep it in mind that each of those six types has its special brewing technique involving the temperature range, tea ware, quantity of tea and the best way to deliver its taste.

Share:
Add new comment
Log in or register to post comments