If you’re new to loose leaf tea, you’ll want to check out this article. You’ll learn all about the different kinds of tea available, and the best ways to steep them
Editor’s Note: I’m delighted to share this article from Tegan at Amoda Tea!
I’ve been a tea lover for years, but I only became interested in loose leaf tea a few years ago. At first, I would burn my delicate teas because I didn’t understand how water temperature affected the flavours of some teas. I also didn’t know about the various kinds of tea that are available! So, I asked Tegan to write a tea-primer of sorts, for those of you who might be new to loose leaf tea. I hope you enjoy this article!ย
Written By: Tegan Woo
What is Tea?
Tea is the oldest beverage in the world and an essential drink in cultures all across the globe. Each tea you sip is unique, even though it comes from the same plant. This is from a combination of differences in terroir from region to region (just like wine), the season the leaves are plucked, changing climate conditions, the farmer’s technique in processing the leaf and the many ways we steep them!
Technically, “tea” is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis bush. All true tea comes from this bush – black, oolong, green, white, yellow, pu-erhโฆ ย all the tea styles start from Camellia Sinensis leaves.
What about rooibos and herbal teas?
Herbal teas, and the popular rooibos tea, are actually not “tea” in the strictest sense, but I personally, and many others, refer to almost any infusion in water as tea. I don’t see the point here in complicating things with technicalities!
Types of Loose Leaf Tea
If all true tea comes from the same plant, then the difference in the final tea must come from the manufacturing. This is true – the manufacturing process is specific to each class of tea.ย There are six different types of tea: green, yellow, white, oolong, black, pu-erh. You don’t see yellow tea much in North America, so we won’t cover that one here.
Think of the teas along a spectrum of oxidation.
Oxidation is the exposure of the tea leaves to oxygen in the air, which causes browning of the leaves. This is similar to how an apple browns after you cut it.
Green tea is not oxidized at all and white tea is lightly oxidized. Black and pu-erh teas are on the opposite end of the oxidization spectrum and have darker brown leaves, infusions, and produce a deeper, more hardy flavour. Oolong covers a range of oxidation in the middle of the spectrum.
Green Tea
After the initial drying stage, leaves destined for green tea are heated to kill the enzyme responsible for oxidization. In China, the heating is done primarily by pan-firing or roasting. In Japan, they steam the leaves. These different methods plays a big part in why Chinese green teas taste and look so much different from Japanese green teas.
How green tea tastes: Generally speaking, Chinese green teas have a wider range of flavours and sometimes a smokiness. They’re also more of a yellow-green colour. Japanese green teas are more “fresh” tasting with vegetal, grass and seaweed notes. They’re a more true green colour in the cup and tend to be more delicate than Chinese green teas. You should visit your local tea supplier and get a Chinese green and a Japanese green and compare them at home.
White Tea
White tea undergoes the least amount of processing. Only the tender young spring buds are used. The buds are allowed to wither then dry to prevent much oxidation of the leaf.
How white tea tastes: Because of the minimal processing, white tea is the most gentle and delicate in both look and flavour. White tea offers a light and refreshing cup with light steamed vegetal flavours and sometimes light toasted bread.
Oolong Tea
Oolongs are the most complicated teas to manufacture! Oolong teas are made from large tea leaves. The appearance (form, shape, colour) of finished oolong teas can range from light green to brown, long & twisted or rolled into tight little balls. There’s so much personalization and intricacy that goes into Oolong manufacture that they tend to have the widest array of flavours and aromas. Some taste and smell of stone fruits, honey, floral (orchid is common), sandalwood and more.
You might hear oolong tea referred to as “semi-oxidized” loose leaf tea. Oolongs tend to be more oxidized than white teas, but less than black. The range is anywhere from 35% to 80% oxidation level.
How oolong tea tastes: Your cup of oolong will vary in flavour depending on the amount of oxidation. It may be sweet, creamy and soft (high mountain Taiwan), or roasty toasty (Chinese Wuyi).
Black Tea
Black teas go through a long manufacturing process. They are withered (dried) after plucking, which is an incredibly important step in creating a solid foundation for further processing. After withering, black teas are rolled to release enzymes from the leaf and then they are fully oxidized.
Some of the most famous black teas come from single regions and are named that way – Assam and Darjeeling in India and Keemun and Yunnan in China, for example. Of course, we commonly see black tea as blends such as English Breakfast and Afternoon blends. You might also see black tea as “broken leaf” and “full leaf”. Broken leaf teas allow for faster and fuller extraction and more caffeine, so you’ll see them more often in breakfast blends meant for the addition of milk and sugar.
How black tea tastes: Again, there’s a big variation in how black teas taste, but they are generally richer, stronger and darker than the previous teas, with a bit more caffeine. Chinese black teas tend to have smoky notes and sometimes some chocolate and sweetness. Indian teas can be heartier and bolder, with the exception of Darjeeling, which is lighter and refreshing. Best to get out there and just start comparing them!
Pu-erh Tea
There are two types of pu-erh tea: Sheng puโer (โrawโ or โgreenโ), which is not oxidized. Shou puโer (โcookedโ or โblackโ), which is oxidized. Sheng pu-erh is the most prized. It is an investment โ bought young and set aside to age. Shou pu-erh is less expensive, but still delicious, and the type that you would normally buy to drink right away. Like any other tea, there are varyingย ย quality levels.ย Pu-erh tea is the one type of loose leaf tea that is truly fermented.ย Microflora and bacterial activity takes place on the leaf, actually fermenting the tea.
How pu-erh tea tastes: Pu-erh teas are dark, earthy and hearty.
Essential Tools
- A steeper cup, stainless steel infuser basket or biodegradable unbleached (brown) tea filters
- A perfect tea spoon
Repeat after me: “I will not buy a tea ball!”ย
How to Steep Loose Leaf Tea
Generally, use 1 tsp of tea per 8oz cup (250mL) of water. If the tea is quite bulky, like white teas, use 2 teaspoons.
Suggested Water Temperatures:
Whiteย orย greenย teas,ย wellย belowย boilingย (76ยฐ C – 85ยฐC /ย 170ยฐย –ย 185ยฐย F).
Oolongs , below boiling (85ยฐC – 98ยฐC /ย 185ยฐย –ย 210ยฐย F).
Blackย teas,ย justย offย a full boil.
Pu-erhs,ย fullย rollingย boilย (100ยฐC /ย 212ยฐย F).
Suggested Steeping Times:
White tea 3-5 minutes
Green tea 1-3 minutes
Oolong tea 3-5 minutes
Black tea 3-5 minutes
Pu-erh tea 2-5 minutes
Re-steeping your leaves:
Many teas can be infused a few times. This is especially true for oolongs and pu-erhs, but try it out with all your teas. With each subsequent steep of the same cup of leaves, lengthen the steeping time. What this means is, don’t throw away your loose leaf tea leaves after your first cup! Try steeping a second and a third infusion. More bang for your buck.
About Amoda Tea:
Amoda simplifies the way tea lovers discover, sample and shop the world’s best tasting teas. The owners of the companyย seek out the bestย independent tea shops across North America, and find the most exciting loose leaf tea to deliver right to your door. ย In one online destination, Amodaย connects the tea lover, or tea newbie, with all of the best expressions of amazing, all-natural flavoured and pure teas.ย Amodaโs signature product is the Tea Tasting Box, a subscription box offering tea drinkers a way to sample and discover premium teas from small tea makers. The company also has their ownย line of pure matcha teas and smoothie blends. To learn more about Amoda Tea, visit www.amodatea.comย or visit the company’s page on Facebook.
Disclosure:
This is not a sponsored post, and I have not been paid to publish this article.
Tegan wrote this articleย upon my request, and was not compensated financially.
All images were provided by Tegan at Amoda Tea, and are published with permission.
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Updated Oct. 2017
Janice @Kitchen Heals Soul says
I loved this post! It’s so interesting to hear where the different teas come from and how the processing affect the taste!
I am pretty addicted to Typhoo tea (the great British tea, as their slogan goes). It’s grocery store tea and it’s pretty strong (and probably not very good quality), but I love it for breakfast with a good splash of milk . I wonder if Amoda Tea would have a nice substitute to suggest (that might be a little better quality).
Tegan says
Hi Janice, absolutely! I used to be a Tetley girl, so I know where you’re coming from! We carry a breakfast blend that I really love. It’s called Sock It To Me and is a strong black tea blend. It’s not quite as strong as the Typhoo because Typhoo is a broken leaf tea and therefore a lot is extracted very quickly. Sock It To Me is a blend of organic and fair-trade teas, it’s really smooth and bold and tastes great with milk! It’s one of our biggest sellers and I’m personally a big fan ๐ Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out: [link expired]
Nicole Martin says
Great article! Tegan really knows her stuff. I made the switch to loose leaf years ago and it’s a game changer. There is so much depth and complexity to tea, even without adding any additional flavors or ingredients.
Shareba Abdul says
I’m glad you liked it Nicole! Tegan is a wealth of information when it comes to tea ๐
Tegan says
That’s a big compliment coming from you! Thanks Nicole ๐
Christina says
Hi,
I just got an Amoda Tea subscription for Xmas. My first box arrived yesterday, but I can’t figure out how to use the paper tea bags included without having them open up and leak leaves into the tea. I can’t find any instructions on the website or in the box either. I feel like a dummy but could you please explain it? I think this info should be easy to find on your site, but I can’t find it anywhere so maybe I’m just overlooking it somehow.
Thanks
Shareba says
Hey Christina,
I don’t have instructions on how to use Amoda’s tea bags on my website (it’s not my company), but I have forwarded your question to the owner of Amoda. She should be in touch with you soon.
Meanwhile, this is how I use the bags: I open the top, put in about a teaspoon of loose leaf tea, then fold the top part over. I then run my fingernail across the folded part (as if you were folding paper to make a card), so that it has a sharp crease. This helps the bag stay closed. Tegan from Amoda might have a better tip, but that’s what I do. I hope that makes sense!
Tegan says
Hi Christina!
Great question. We do something similar to Shareba. We put a teaspoon of tea into the filter through the angled opening. Then we simply place the closed end into our mug, fill with water and let the open end drap over the edge of the mug. Then when it’s done steeping you have that part that is still out of the water to grab and dispose of the filter. The water of course absorbs up through top of the filter, but it shouldn’t be enough to drip over the edge of the cup. I hope that makes sense!
TEgan
Tegan says
Oh, I also wanted to mention that you could tie a knot in the top of the tea filter if you were wanting to submerge it. It’s not ideal because you end up giving the tea leaves less room to move around, expand and release all the flavours, but it works in a pinch.
Megan says
Thank you. I love tea but in an unsophisticated -grocery store-tea bag kind of way lol! I have bought the tools to steep my own from loose leaf and am now learning more about the different types of tea and brewing them. I read parts of this article outloud to my husband because it had lots of info that we didn’t know. Thank you for educating people who want to learn more about tea and thank you for doing it in the way that you did in this article. It is easy to read and understand.
Shareba says
Hey Megan, I’m glad that you found the article helpful! We’re hoping to get more tea content on the website soon. Let me know if there’s anything else you want to learn about tea ๐