Have you read the first lesson: What is tea ?

Since all tea comes from the same plant, the secrets behind the different types of tea lie in the production. The production of tea is associated with a lot of mystery and secrets and each tea master has his own way of producing tea. A tea master is the one who is responsible for the production and has a long education in the profession. We mainly divide the production into five basic steps: picking, withering, rolling, oxidizing, heating. Some tea masters do not use all of these and some of them several times.

Of these steps, oxidation is the most important in relation to the type of tea you want to produce. Oxidation is the same as what happens to a banana when it turns black from being left out too long, or to an apple when you peel it. The enzymes react with the oxygen after the cell walls have broken down. To speed up oxidation, you can knock, roll or cut the tea leaves so that more cell walls are broken down and the enzymes react faster. What distinguishes the different types of tea from each other is how long, and if, they are allowed to oxidize. When the tea master thinks it is enough, he starts a heat process called “kill green”. This heat treatment stops the oxidation and enzyme activity. We can again see the same thing with an apple that has been baked in the oven; it will have the same golden color as when it was fresh because the enzymes have not had the opportunity to react with the oxygen at all.

Depending on the production method, we get different types of tea. We will look at the most common ones: white, green, oolong, black and pu-erh.

White tea

White tea is the least processed, yet most expensive of all tea types. It is produced in the simplest way possible – picked and dried. From the time the leaves are picked until they are completely dried, they have time to wither a little. The leaves oxidize a little during the drying phase, but rarely more than 20%. Traditionally, and most often, the leaves are dried in the sun. If the weather does not allow it, the tea is dried in suitable rooms over machine heat or fire with drying heat of around 50 degrees.

White tea comes from the delicate, immature buds and/or leaves of the first flush. Due to the minimal processing, white tea retains catechins (antioxidants) and also has a high caffeine content because it is made from fresh shoots. White tea has the same healthy and beneficial properties as green tea. Since white tea is harvested with young leaves, it does not contain the same amount of chlorophyll as green tea and therefore does not taste as vegetal.

A fine white tea has white hairs that cover the surface and are often particularly visible on the slightly darker tea leaves.

White tea has the mildest flavor of the tea types.

Here you can buy the best white tea in town

Green tea

What distinguishes green tea from white tea is that the leaves are roasted or steamed (most commonly in Japan), to kill the enzymes in the leaves so that oxidation stops. Green tea can also be twisted, shaped or rolled during processing. The finest green teas are shaped and fried in a wok with only a few hundred grams at a time!

Green tea can be made from any of the flushes. The most expensive ones are often from the first flush. In areas of China that produce white tea (from the first flush), the second flush is used, while the third flush is most common in India.

There is a wide range of flavors and appearances of green tea. In China alone, there are hundreds of different types.

Here you can buy the best green tea in town

Yellow tea

Oolong tea

Oolong tea is semi-oxidized. This is done by pounding the leaves, usually in a bamboo drum, and roasting them in repetitive motions over a period of time until the desired oxidation is achieved. Oxidation of oolong can range from 10 to 90%. The production of oolong is complicated and the tea is able to retain a complexity of flavor and aroma beyond that of white, green, or yellow teas.

Some oolong teas are repeatedly rolled and roasted to give the leaf its shape. Some are processed by machine, others are by hand, this brings the moisture from the inside to the outside of the leaf.

Here you can buy the city's best oolong tea

Black tea

Black tea is fully oxidized. This means that the oxidation process is allowed to complete on its own. After oxidation, the tea is dried by roasting. It is oxidation that makes the tea leaves dark.

Black tea has a strong, often earthy flavour and is the most common type drunk in the Western world. Most people prefer to drink black tea with milk, but high-quality teas such as Assam, Keemun and Darjeeling are also delicious on their own. A common misconception is that black tea has more caffeine than other types of tea, but it is the cultivar of the tea plant that determines the caffeine content and it is kept more or less constant after the leaves are harvested.

Black tea is the most common variety we know in Norway and the West. It is mostly black tea, of poor quality, found in tea bags and tea that has had flavoring added.

Here you can buy the best black tea in town.

Pu-erh tea

What sets puerh apart from other types of tea is that it is compressed and allowed to develop - or added - a bacterial culture (like wine and cheese) and ferments for a certain period. This makes it suitable for storage and many teas improve over time, but proper storage is very important. The tea is packed together in the form of a ball, plate or cake. For brewing, a piece of the desired size must be cut off.

The production of pu-erh is surrounded by music and some types can be aged like fine wine. It is common for pu-erh to be aged for 3 to 10 years, but there are also younger and much older versions. The oldest date back to the Qing dynasty in the 16th-17th centuries.

Puerh tea has a very complex, strong and earthy flavor.

Here you can buy the city's best pu-erh tea