Types of Tea - An Easy Guide of the 6 Chinese Tea Categories
The tea plant is pretty amazing… One of the coolest (but often unrealized) things about the tea plant is that it can be made into 6 main types of tea:
Green
Yellow
White
WuLong (Oolong)
Red (known as Black tea in the West)
Black (known as Dark tea in the West)
I didn't realize that there were so many types of tea when I first started drinking tea, or that they all came from the same plant… So that's why I put this overview together.
We'll go over all of these types in detail, what makes them unique, what they taste like, and so much more. We'll even clear up some common misconceptions about types of tea. Misconceptions that may actually change how you look at all the tea you've been drinking your whole life.
So…. Grab your favorite mug, a teapot, or whatever you like to brew with… It's time to dig into some of the fun (but admittedly a little geeky) details.
What is Tea?
This might seem like an obvious question, but it's important to understand what tea is and is not. All true teas are made from the same plant, the Camellia sinensis.
Quick info: What about things like Herbal teas? Things like Rooibos, Chamomile, Mint aren’t tea - they are considered tisanes. If you want to know more about the differences between tea and tisanes, and even learn what herbal teas can help you sleep, you can check out our dedicated article 5 Teas That Help You Sleep Better here.
Let's quickly go over a few important things to know about the plant itself and what contributes to a tea's final flavor...
The Tea Plant – Camellia Sinensis
Camellia Sinensis, the tea plant, is a flowering evergreen shrub that sometimes grows as large as a tree. Most tea is grown in China, but there are significant tea-growing regions in Japan, Taiwan, India, and Kenya.
Tea Varietals
Like most plants, there are many varietals of the Camellia Sinensis plant.
Think grapes for wine, or all those different kinds of tomatoes at the grocery store.
These are all the same plant, but they have distinctly different flavors. The same goes for the tea plant! So different varietals of the plant will produce teas that taste unique. On top of varietal, there are a few other important things, such as growing location, tea plant varietal, and processing that lead to a tea's overall flavor.
Any Varietal Works for Any Tea
Just a quick note before we move on: You can make any of the 6 types of tea (Green, Yellow, White, WuLong (oolong), Red, Black) from any varietal of tea. Just like you could make a red, white, or rose white from any varietal of grape.
But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Certain varietals will lend themselves better to certain types of tea. Anyhow, let’s get into the different types of tea!
The 6 Chinese Tea Types
Like I mentioned before, the Camellia sinensis plant can be processed into 6 separate categories of tea. Each of these types has its distinct processing methods and associated flavors, and some categories even have distinct sub-styles.
Why Are There 6 Types of Tea?
You might be wondering why there are 6 categories of tea and not more or less.
To answer this question simply: Different regions have developed different processing techniques for the Camellia sinensis plant that suit the specific varietals that grow in the region.
So put simply, some growing locations (terroirs) and varietals of the tea plant yield a better-flavored tea when processed in a certain style. For example, Wu Yi Yan Cha, a sub-style of Chinese Wu Long (Oolong) tea from Fujian province is grown in soil that is extremely rocky and mineral-rich. So the local varietals of tea, which are often quite floral, have a distinct minerality to them.
These leaves are processed as Wu Long tea and then roasted, which balances the minerality and ties the floral notes back in. And on top of this, history and tradition have a lot to do with the style of tea produced in a specific region. Alright! On to the 6 types of tea.
1 - Green Tea
Green tea is one of the most widely known types of tea. But what makes Green tea green? A few things…
Green teas are typically made from early spring pickings that consist of just the tiniest little bud or a bud and two leaves. These are sometimes referred to as picking grades. Different styles of Green tea have different picking grades.
The second thing that makes them visually green is the processing. Making tea is a lot like cooking… By adding heat to the leaves at specific times, chemical reactions within the leaf are either facilitated, altered, or stopped.
The tea plant is full of different compounds that influence or control certain chemical reactions within the leaf while tea is being processed. Enzymes in the leaf, which facilitate chemical reactions, are vital to tea making.
For Green tea, these enzymes are halted (stopped) early on in the processing, during a step known as Kill green. (Later in the article we’ll cover how tea is processed, and more on this Kill green step too.)
The leaves are heated in a wok that is hot enough to stop the enzymes in the leaf from facilitating further chemical reactions. Great care and skill is needed to ensure the leaves don't burn. Tea making takes considerable skill in general.
Note: By the way, halting the enzymes in the leaves means you need to heat them, it doesn’t have to be with a wok. Japanese Green tea for example goes through a steaming process.
This Kill green step locks in the green color and bright fresh flavors of a Green tea.
And because the enzymes and the leaf are no longer active, the tea will only stay bright and fresh for a limited time.
That's why it's suggested to drink your Green tea within a year of production.
Older Green tea isn't bad per se, it just doesn't taste like it was originally intended to.
Common Chinese Green teas include: Bi Luo Chun, Long Jing, Mao Feng, Gan Lu, Gua Pian, Yun Wu, Mao Jian (there are many more!). Some common Japanese Green teas include: Matcha (抹茶), Sencha (煎茶), and Gyokoru (玉露).
Extra Resource: What is Chinese Green Tea? Our complete guide on the topic.
2 - Yellow Tea
Yellow tea is quite interesting. If you haven't heard of it before, you're likely not alone - It's the rarest kind of tea. Its processing and flavor are unique. Yellow tea is processed similarly to Green tea, but it goes through an added step called a micro-fermentation, which I’ll explain below.
During processing, the leaves go through a quick "Kill green" at a lower temperature, which traps in some additional moisture. The leaves are then wrapped in cloth, which traps in some heat and facilitates the continuation of chemical reactions that break down the chlorophyll content and begin yellowing the leaf.
This “yellowing” subdues some of the sharp flavor associated with Green tea. Yellow tea often tastes quite a bit like Green tea, and many new tea drinkers will often think it is Green tea. But Yellow tea is a bit more mellow in flavor. Chinese Yellow teas include Huang Ya (yellow buds) and Jun Shan Yin Zhen (one of the rarest teas).
Extra Resource: What is Chinese Yellow Tea? Our complete guide on the topic.
3 - White Tea
White tea is the simplest form of tea. And by that, I mean it goes through the least amount of processing. In the most basic sense, White tea is picked and dried, but that doesn't mean it's easy to make! It's a bit more complex than that.
Moisture needs to exit the leaf properly during processing (the drying part) or the tea will taste pretty bad. And with minimal processing, flaws become exaggerated.
In terms of taste? Oftentimes White tea is very floral and aromatic with earthy dried hay notes. It’s pleasant, and not overly bitter or harsh the way some Greens or Pu Er’s can be.
Common Chinese White teas include Bai Hao Yin Zhen (silver needle), Bai Mu Dan (white peony), Gong Mei, Shou Mei. White teas from Yunnan, such as Yue Guang Bai are also quite popular.
Extra Resource: What is Chinese White Tea? Our complete guide on the topic.
4 - Wu Long (Oolong) Tea
Wu Long, which is often also written as Oolong, is a unique, wonderful type of tea.
It's a bit confusing in the sense that there are multiple subcategories of Wu Long...
Meaning there are a few styles that all taste pretty different that are actually all considered to be Wu Long tea.
Like all of the different types of tea, the processing is what makes a Wu Long tea a Wu Long. These teas are sometimes referred to as semi-fermented teas. Later in the article, we’ll cover fermentation and oxidation.
But put simply, fermentation within tea-making doesn't refer to a microbial fermentation – It refers to the degree to which tea's enzymes have been metabolized. Which is a fancy way to say that Wu Long teas lie somewhere between Green and Red tea (known as Black tea in the west) within their processing.
While it's not that straightforward (Wu Long teas go through distinct processing steps that make them into Wu Long) it's a good place to start. Common Wu Longs include Da Hong Pao, Qi Lan, Bai Ye, and Ya Shi Xiang.
Extra Resource: What is Wu Long Tea? Our complete guide on the topic.
5 - Red Tea
Red tea, also known as Hong Cha in Chinese, is the category of tea people are most familiar with… even if they're not aware of it. Somewhere along the line throughout history and trade routes, Red tea became known as Black tea. And for some reason, that name has stuck.
It's not totally a huge deal, but as you'll see below, Black tea is a distinctly separate and different style of tea. So the Lipton tea bags and Black tea we've all been drinking for years is actually - technically speaking - Red tea.
Note: This can make it difficult to make a blog about tea! After all, should we call red tea “black tea” because that’s what most English speakers know it as?
Or should we use the technically correct term and possibly confuse our readers?
We’ve decided the technically correct term - but we do our best to give a reminder when we say “red tea” it’s what you’re probably thinking as “black.”
Why is it called Red tea anyway?
Well, like most of the other teas we've gone over, the color of the brew actually has a lot to do with the name. The “tea” you get from making Lipton is red colored - right?
Well, in Black Tea (in the next chapter) the tea itself is pitch black, like tar! But the important thing to note is that Red tea is fully fermented, which really just means all of its enzymes are exhausted during processing. This makes the flavor of the tea quite sweet and almost berry-like.
Red teas are wilted and rolled (to accelerate the fermentation process). This fermentation (the step where enzymes facilitate chemical reactions) is the most important because Red tea is made by fully exhausting these enzymes.
The fermentation of Red tea can take anywhere from 2-10 hours – it all depends on the day, the temperature, and local humidity. Common Red teas include Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, Dian Hong, Qi Men, Jin Jun Mei.
Extra Resource: What is Chinese Red Tea? Our complete guide on the topic.
6- Black Tea
So this might blow your mind a little bit… Most people are aware of what we call Black tea in the west… But what's fascinating, and totally amazing, is that true Black tea (which is a whole separate category of Chinese tea) is nothing like the Lipton tea bags dangling out millions of mugs around the globe.
Black tea, when brewed, is pitch black! It's not amber, or subtly red… It's pitch black! In Chinese tea, it's known as Hei Cha (黑茶), which literally means black tea.
It's made through a process called post-fermentation where beneficial bacteria are introduced to the leaf:
Which exhausts the enzymes more quickly, making the tea extremely dark, earthy in taste, and quite sweet.
When you drink a true Black tea, you don't often expect a liquid that looks like coffee to be sweet, but it is! Some common Black teas include
Shou Pu (Ripe Pu Er)
Liu bao
Liu an
Fu cha
Extra Category - Pu Er
While not (technically) it's own category of tea, Pu Er is an increasingly popular style of tea that some people consider it's own distinct category. While it's a little confusing to explain if you're totally new to tea, Pu Er actually contains two sub-styles:
Raw Pu Er (Sheng Pu)
and Ripe Pu Er (Shou Pu)
While some people like to put them in their own category, if you look at the processing methods of each… You'll see that they're (technically) processed as Green tea (Sheng Pu) and Black tea (Shou Pu). While the technicalities are true, the processing of Raw Pu Er actually requires that the processing of Green tea is done incorrectly – I told you this would be a little confusing!
Basically, Green tea is made when you heat the leaf to a temperature during processing. Hot enough to stop the enzymes in the leaf from further metabolizing (causing chemical reactions), thus halting the flavor of a tea.
When you make Raw Pu Er, this same process occurs, but the temperature isn't exactly hot enough to stop those enzymes. So the tea actually keeps on doing its thing (albeit slowly) over the years, thus allowing the tea to age and its flavor evolves over time.
Quick Recap:
For further information about the differences between the main types of Pu Er, you can have a look at our dedicated article Shou Pu Vs Sheng Pu here.
Hence why Pu Er is so loved, and why it's a little confusing when you're new to tea! All this to say… According to some more official classifications, Raw Pu Er is made like Green tea, and Ripe Pu Er is made as Black tea.
Extra Resource: What is Chinese Pu Er Tea?
Tea Processing - What Determines the Type of Tea
Now you have an overview of what the 6 classical tea categories in Chinese tea are. Without an understanding of what determines what category a tea is… we’re still a bit in the dark. Tea categories are a result of the processing methods. So let’s talk about them!
Tea Processing in a Nutshell
The leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant can be processed into 6 different kinds of tea. All with their own, unique flavor profiles. Processing, in its most general sense, refers to what is done to the tea leaves once they're picked.
Depending on the kind of tea being made, different processing techniques are used. But generally speaking, most tea leaves go through some common processing steps which I'll define below.
Withering
Withering refers to the part of processing where moisture begins to leave the tea leaf. As soon as the leaves are picked, they begin to wilt and wither. They're often spread out on the ground of a processing facility or on large mats.
Withering time largely depends on the specific leaf, its water content, and the humidity of the air on the day of processing. Tea leaves are full of water.
So properly facilitating the loss of excess moisture is super important when making tea, as this has a direct effect on flavor and aroma. A tea leaf typically loses 30-50% of its moisture content during withering. Humidity, temperature, and airflow are what control this step of processing.
Fermentation/Oxidation
These steps are often considered to be the same thing, but they're actually a little bit different. What's important to know is that they both refer to an incredibly important part of tea processing.
After picking, the cell walls of the tea leaf begin to break down and oxidize. This is sometimes accelerated by a technique of rolling, which bruises the leaf. Think about bananas – when they bruise, they begin to oxidize and turn brown, which changes their flavor.
This also happens to tea leaves. This is where the term fermentation comes in. It's not referring to a microbial fermentation like something that happens when making kimchi or sauerkraut. It refers to the series of chemical reactions that occur within the leaf, and how these chemical reactions are controlled through enzymes in the tea plant.
Enzymes are what facilitate the chemical reactions that change flavor and aroma. So depending on the type of tea being made, oxidation and fermentation are either encouraged, precisely controlled, or avoided altogether.
While this might be a little difficult to grasp, it'll make more sense when we go through the specific styles below. Also, I wrote an entire article on the topic of What is Oxidation in Tea that you can catch up on.
Kill Green
Most (but not all) tea leaves go through a step known as killing the green, or simply, Kill green. Remember those enzymes in the leaf I mentioned above? Well, eventually, for most styles of tea, you need to stop them from doing what they do or you'll start making a different kind of tea than you intended to.
Quick tip: As you’ll learn soon, the level of oxidation has a lot to do with what type of tea the tea will become.
So how do you do that? Well, you kill the green! Which essentially just means you heat the leaf to a temperature (usually in a wok) that's hot enough to stop the enzymes from doing anything else.
Doing so stops the tea where it is, halting a lot of its flavor and aroma. Some teas go through a Kill green process early in their processing (Chinese Green tea), some later (Wu long/Oolong tea), and some never go through this step (White tea).
Baking/Drying
Tea leaves then need to be dried so they become shelf stable. This is often done by gently baking the leave, or by leaving them in the sun to get rid of any additional moisture left in the leaf. Some styles of tea even go through another additional step of roasting, which alters the taste, aroma, and color of the finished tea.
Sorting
Finally, the leaves are sorted. Meaning undesired and improperly processed leaves are removed.
That’s more or less the primary processing steps for tea to produce the rainbow we can enjoy. Of course, there are other elements that can affect the taste and naming of tea, such as where it’s grown…
Growing Location – Terroir
While processing is incredibly important to a good cup of tea and determines the category of tea it is… The most important factor in a tea's actual taste is in fact its growing location. Why?
Great question – It seems that the microclimate of a growing location – a concept known as terroir – has major influences on the flavor of a tea. This actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
The amount of sunlight, rainfall, groundwater, nutrients in the soil, natural stressors in the environment, etc all vary depending on the growing location. So it's only natural that these variables have a large impact on the flavor of a tea.
So the right combination of some of these factors leads to some areas being a little better for growing tea than others. And in many ways, growing location is what sets a good tea apart from a great tea.
A Sparkling Wine Called Champagne…
A sparkling wine can only be called a Champagne if it’s from Champagne, right? Well, that happens often in the tea world too. For instance, before we mentioned Hei Cha (Black Tea), and we also mentioned a kind of black tea called Shou Pu.
Shou Pu is a Black tea. Just like Champagne is a sparkling wine. But in order to be called a Shou Pu, the Black Tea must be produced in Yunnan, a south-western country in China known for excellent Pu Ers.
Try all the 6 Categories of Tea Yourself
Reading articles about tea is a great introduction. But drinking the tea is like having a deep conversation. I’d really recommend you try all of the different types of tea yourself, so you can see what you prefer and get a wider understanding of tea itself. Wish you the best of luck in your brewing!
And if your’e looking for new tea hacks to get the most out of your tea brewing, I invite you to read our previous article 7 Delicious Tea Hacks That You Can Do Today here. We cover making your tea decaf, to getting more brewing, and everything between.
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