Categories Of Chinese Tea

There are 4 categories of Chinese tea, defined by the method of oxidation used in the processing:

Non-Oxidized

Non-oxidized Chinese teas are known as green tea, white tea (and yellow tea which is very rare). The leaves are simply picked, then dried and then packaged. The leaves may be steamed, flattened, twisted or rolled into little balls to accentuate the tea's fragrance or taste. This process permits little oxidization of the leaves and retains the fresh taste of the leaves. Contrary to popular belief, Chinese green teas may contain more caffeine that Chinese black teas but both are less than the black teas consumed in the West that originate from India, and all teas are significantly less than coffee (see Tea & Health: Caffeine for a fuller discussion).

See all our Green Teas and White Teas

 

Fully Oxidized

Fully oxidized teas are known in the West as Black teas (known as Red Teas in China). The flavour is developed by keeping the leaves warm and moist for a few hours which turns them black as the chemicals in the leaves break them down by reacting with the air. The leaves are then dried by a variety of methods which affects the taste and then graded and packaged.

See all our Black Teas

 

Semi-Oxidized

These are the Oolong teas that are sometimes called semi-green or blue-green tea. The process is the same as the oxidized type above with the time of oxidization adjusted to make the tea taste more green or black and bring out certain taste characteristics.

See all our Oolong Teas 

 

Post-Fermented (Aged)

This is the famous Pu-Erh tea (Bow Lay in Cantonese) from Yunnan province. After processing it may be compressed and stored in cool dry cellars, sometimes for many years and even decades before it is made available for purchase. This aging has a further mellowing effect and adds complexity to the flavour.

See all our Pu-erh Teas and Hei Cha Teas

 

In addition to the 4 basic categories above, there are 2 additional ones:

Smoked Teas

As the name suggests, a distinctive flavour is imparted to the leaves by exposing them to the smoke from different types of burning wood. Smoked teas can range from lightly to heavily smoked. Examples are Monkey Pick Tea, one of the three varieties of Da Hong Pao and Lapsang Souchong.  

See our Lapsang Sauchong Tea

See our Da Hong Pao Teas

See our Aged Oolong Teas

 

Scented or Flavoured Teas

These come in 2 types: natural and artificial and there are high and low grades of each type. High grade Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea uses fresh Jasmine flowers which are overlaid on top of the tea leaves multiple times during processing, imparting a delicate flowery flavour. Lower grades use few flowers and layerings or an artificial flavouring. Tea flavoured with lychee fruit is also very popular and there are some high grade teas of this type available. Beware of scented teas which use low grade leaves and artificial flavours.

To see how tea is made, see a chart on How Chinese Tea Is Made 

 

Chart - Popular Chinese Teas by Oxidization Type