Tea Basics

One Plant

All tea comes from the one plant species, Camellia Sinensis, and its two sub-varieties Camellia Sinensis Sinensis and Camellia Sinensis Assamica. The former originated in China and the latter in Assam, India. The differences in flavour and colour arise from how the leaves are processed after harvesting.

Photo credit: horniman.ac.uk

Six Categories of Tea

We can sort tea into six categories. White, green, yellow, oolong, black and pu-erh (sometimes called dark tea).

Below is a very simplified table showing some of the differences between these categories.