All types of true teas (as opposed to herbal or fruit infusions) come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. It is only differences in the processing methods that produce the four main types of teas – white, green, oolong and black teas. The tea leaves are freshly plucked by hand and then steamed. After being air dried, the leaves become white tea. White tea is produced on a very limited scale and more expensive than other teas. Undergoing the least processing among all types of tea, white tea is believed to have more antioxidants, and produce more benefits to your health than other types of tea. Having not been rolled, white tea leaves are large in size, therefore, you should use more leaves per cup than with other teas.

Green Tea: To produce green tea, the fresh tea leaves are carefully placed on large bamboo trays and allowed to dry. The leaves are then placed a small amount at a time, into a hot pan and moved about quickly by hands. This heat-treating process prevents the leaves from oxidizing or fermenting, and softens the leaves for rolling. After undergoing several treatments of being roasted and rolled, the leaves are placed on large bamboo trays for the final drying. Most green teas are produced in China and Japan, and almost all Chinese teas are produced by hand-plucking tea leaves for final processing. Light in color and flavor, green teas have lower caffeine content than other tea types and they are loaded with health benefiting antioxidants.

Wulong:   “Oolong” or “Woolong” is an Anglicization of “Wulong” (DARK DRAGON). The freshly plucked tea leaves are placed on a bamboo tray and shaken to bruise the leaves edges. The bruised leaves then undergo the partial fermenting (oxidizing). The next process is roasting the partially fermented leaves on a hot pan. After fire drying, the leaves become Wulong Tea. In recent years, more and more people are interested in wulong tea because they believe the wulong tea has properties that help to burn away body fat, boost energy and clear skin. (These properties have not been evaluated by FDA).

Black Tea:The freshly plucked tea leaves are rolled to release the juices which then react with air. The rolled leaves undergo full fermenting (oxidizing).The full fermenting gives the rolled leaves a black color and strong flavors. The next process is roasting the fermented leaves on a hot pan. Finally, the processed leaves are fire dried to become black tea. Rolling and roasting tea leaves into black tea take a lot of time and energy. That is why black tea is also called “Gong Fu” (patient) tea.

Tea Blend: In order to enrich the flavors and fragrances and to fortify the health benefits of tea, these four basic types of teas may be mixed with fruits, flowers, spices, herbs and natural flavorings, resulting in a large variety of tea blends.