Tea Types and Flavors

Many people prefer tea to coffee due to teas high level on antioxidants and low caffeine content. One of the many reasons I myself am a tea drinker.  As an avid tea drinker, people ask me the differences between the assortments of teas they come across.  Although all teas come from the same basic plant, Camellia sinensis, their differences lie in their growing conditions, processing and geography.

Teas are grouped into several different categories, but three of the most popular are green tea, white tea and black tea.

Green Tea – This type of tea is minimally processed and therefore reportedly provides a high level of antioxidants (University of Maryland Medical School).  Antioxidants rid the body of any harmful free radicals, damaging compounds that can harm cells in the body.  The polyphenols in green tea assist in neutralizing the free radicals in our body, and may even reduce or prevent some of the damage from free radicals.

When the tealeaves are harvested, they are briefly steamed which prevents them from fermenting and changing colors. Once the leaves have been steamed, they are spread out and dried with hot air until the leaves are crisp (George Mateljan Foundation). The result is a yellowish-green color tea we are used to seeing and where the astringent taste of green tea comes from. 

White Tea – White tea is the purest of all teas. The leaves are steamed and dried which result in a high level of antioxidants due to the minimal processing. Additionally, white tea has less caffeine then green tea or black tea and much less caffeine then coffee. This tea is a great choice for people who are looking to reduce caffeine. White tea has a delicate, sweet taste that does not overwhelm your taste palate.

Black Tea – Black tea goes through a higher fermentation process resulting in a stronger flavor then green tea or white tea. Processing black tea is a complex process. It involves removing approximately one-third of their moisture rendering the leaves soft and supple, breaking the cell wall to release essential juices for fermentation and keeping the leaves under high humidity to promote fermentation (George Mateljan Foundation). This will turn the leaves a darkish brown, developing the strong black tea flavor.


For those of you who are not tea drinkers, I recommend starting off with a tea that does not have a strong flavor. White tea is usually a good choice. Tea can be an acquired taste and too strong of a flavor can sometimes turn people off.