The Tea Spectrum: What Does the Colour of Your Tea Mean? - Food ...

Other classifications are Oolong and post fermented making the six categories of tea in all. Camellia sinensis is the tea plant, bush or tree, whichever you prefer, from which all tea varieties originate. The different categories come from how the leaf is processed after harvest. The tip, a bud and two or three leaves, is harvested every three weeks or so from the plant. These young leaves have 4% caffeine while older leaves have a different chemical make up. The plant is mostly grown in tropical and subtropical climates where there is about 130cm of rain a year. Plants grown at higher altitudes grow slower and produce a higher quality of tea leaf as a result.

The colour classification is made based on the oxidisation level of the tea leaves which turns the leaves a certain colour as they are dried.

Black tea is tea which has been greatly oxidised. In China it is also known as red tea as the colour of the liquid tea is a red colour. It has a strong flavour which is favoured by drinkers here in Britain. In fact, 90% of all tea sold in the West is black tea. It lasts longer than other types of tea and so was one which was traded widely in brick form since the 19th century. Black teas are usually named after the place where it was grown, for example Assam. It is blended with other ingredients to make some blends for instance, Earl Grey. Black tea should only be steeped once as the quality of flavour is lost after that.

Green tea has been oxidised the least hence the leaves looking green by the retention of a certain amount of chlorophyll. It has had many scientific tests over the past few years to find out about it's health giving properties. It has been found to encourage weight loss through oxidising fat molecules. Flavonoids are higher than in other teas giving it the similar health giving properties to some fruit and vegetables. Green tea has been used in traditional Asian medicine for many centuries. There are many types of green tea each one grown and processed slightly differently depending on how it's to be used. The two main ways of growing it is in full sun and in shade. These conditions give the tea different qualities. High quality green tea can be steeped more than once.

Yellow tea is produced in a very similar way to green tea but is left to dry more slowly giving the leaves a yellow colouring. It can be mistaken for black tea when blended with herbs. A secondary use for the term is for tea served at the Imperial court in China.

White tea is a lightly oxidised tea grown almost exclusively in Fugian province of China. The leaves and buds used are very young. They are left to whither in sunlight before slight oxidisation through light crushing of the leaves. The white appearance comes from the hairs on unopened buds. White tea has a high level of catechins and polyphenols making it a really healthy drink. The presence of antioxidants helps build the immune system too.

So the differences in colour comes down to the way the leaf is treated after picking especially its oxidisation. As green tea is making inroads to the predominantly black tea market here in the UK, I wonder how long it will be until the yellow and white can be commonly found on supermarket shelves.

Source: http://www.savistamagazine.com/article/the-tea-spectrum-what-does-the-colour-of-your-tea-mean-

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