Six Types of Basic Tea in China

Chinese tea leaves can be classified into two major categories. 

 (1) Basic Tea 

are freshly picked and processed into green tea, black tea, Oolong tea, yellow tea, white tea and dark tea, with no flavors and additives.

 (2) Reprocessed Tea 

are treated and reprocessed basic tea leaves made into flower tea, compressed tea, tea extracts,  fruit tea, herbal tea, tea bags or tea flavored drinks, etc.

In this article we focus on 6 types of basic teas.

Green Tea

Green tea is a type of unfermented tea, easily recognized by its green leaves and tea liquid. There are two types of green tea – quality green tea and mainstream green tea. Quality green tea is usually hand produced in limited quantity.Examples include West Lake Long Jing (Dragon Well), Bi Luo Chun, etc. 

When brewed in a glass teacup, one can appreciate the leaves unfurl in a “dance of tea leaves”. The shape of the tea leaves can be differentiated into twisted, flat-shaped, spiral shaped and various other shapes. 

Mainstream green tea is usually mass-produced by machines. The quality is of mid to low standard, usually made for export. A certain amount is used to fumigate flower teas. Sun-dried green tea is mostly used to produce compressed tea.

Black Tea

Black tea is a type of fully fermented tea. It can be further classified as Gong fu Black Tea, Broken Black Tea and Small Species Black Tea.

Gong fu Black Tea is the traditional Chinese black tea. Known varieties include Yunnan’s Dian hong Gong fu, Anhui’s Keemun Gong fu, etc. Broken Black Tea requires simultaneous kneading and cutting, thus the final product are grain like tea leaves, usually sold internationally. Small Species Black Tea is the earliest form of black tea. Lapsang Souchng is of the best quality and most famous.

Black tea is produced in many different leaf styles and flavor profiles, each of which reflects the terroir of origin. Unlike green tea, most black teas will retain their flavor and aroma for many years, particularly orthodox-manufacture, whole-leaf black tea.

Many of these premium black teas can be re-steeped, so the seeming higher cost of them may be reduced by half or two-thirds, making them not only a bargain, but quite often less expensive than ‘cheap’ tea.

Some black tea, especially very long leaf teas such as Yunnan black tea from southwest China can benefit from ‘resting’ or even aging, which may transform them into a more flavorful, deep and richly satisfying cup when kept in cool, dry storage conditions.

Oolong Tea

Oolong tea can be classified according to its place of production – Southern Min Oolong, Northern Min Oolong, Guangdong Oolong, and Taiwan Oolong. Northern Min Oolong’s degree of ferment at on is stronger; it is straight and coarse. Sometimes, the end is twisted. The leaves are edged black. Thirty percent of the leaf is black and seventy percent is green. 

Southern Min Ooolong’s fermentation is lighter. It is circular and twisted; each leaf is edged black. Examples include Tie Guanyin. Guangdong Oolong’s degree of fermentation is heavier than Southern Min Oolong. Its shape is tight and firm.The leaves are bigger and coarser. The bottom of the leaves is yellowish-green with a defined black edge. Examples include Fenghuang Dancong,  Lingtou Dancong, etc. The fragrance is unique and varies according to the plant. Taiwan Oolong is the type of Oolong tea that is least fermented. Those that are more heavily fermented include Dong ding oolong, Jinxuan oolong, etc. They are shaped as a half ball and the tea leaves are green on the underside. The most heavily fermented tea is Baihao Oolong also known as Champagne Oolong or Eastern Beauty.

Yellow Tea

Yellow tea is slightly fermented tea. In yellow tea processing, after the leaf has undergone its initial firing, this early spring bud-only pluck receives a ‘smothering’ step in a unique process known in Chinese as ‘men huan’.

Yellow tea is differentiated by the tenderness of their tea leaves when they are picked and can be classified by their yellow tea bud, such as Junshan Silver Needles, or Yellow Xiaocha, such as Guishan Maojian, or Yellow Dacha, such as Huo shan Huang Dacha.

White Tea

White tea is slightly fermented tea. Its tea liquid is pale and the flavor is mellow and sweet. White tea is one of Fujian Province’s unique treasure teas. It can be light and floral in the cup. Sometimes it is also woodsy and slightly reminiscent of the taste of a very light black tea. Either way it is mild and delicious.

While white tea is historically linked to Fujian Province, very good white teas are being made in Yunnan Province too, from local tea bush cultivars. These white teas are less expensive than their Fujian cousins and offer other choices in the white tea style.

Three main styles of white tea are made:

– Yin Zhen (Silver Needle): the original white tea consisting only of plump, early-to-mid-spring pluck tea buds, covered with white fuzz.

– Bai Mu Dan (White Peony): freshy appearance,  joint buds and curly whole leave.

– Shou Mei: produced from tea leaves only. The flavor is mellow and sweet.

Dark Tea

Dark tea is a post-fermented tea. Varieties include Hu’nan dark tea, Sichuan Biancha, Yunnan Pu-erh tea, Guangxi Liubao Cha, etc. It is usually compressed tea, such as tea discs, tea bricks, Tuo-cha, etc. There are also bar-shaped teas. In the past, dark tea was mainly sold in areas such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia which are mainly resided by the minorities. A small percentage is exported overseas. Therefore dark tea is also known as border sales tea.

Pu-erh belongs to a family of both un-fermented and fermented tea known as Dark Tea (Hei Cha).  Raw Pu-erh (Sheng Pu-erh) is the un-fermented version of this tea. It is made by a natural traditional process that preserves the presence of live microbes on both the loose-leaf and the compressed shapes of this tea. It is these microbes that are responsible for transforming this tea by slow fermentation (over years and decades) into something magnificent, rich and full in the mouth. Another version is Ripe Pu-erh (Shou Pu-erh) , with a technique of “heating pile” (wo dui) – to sprinkle water over a pile of leaves and make them ferment. Shou Pu-erh is ready for drinking right away or can be stored to mellow and sweeten over time.