Licorice & Sloe Company

From Mystery to Mr. Tea

By Bil Silliker | November 8, 2005

Tea. What can I tell you about tea? I’m really much better at answering questions about tea than I am at delivering unsolicited content about tea. I don’t consider myself an expert on tea… just a student of tea.

I can remember when I first made the move towards tea I looked at a list of teas more extensive than the list at our own teahouse and had no idea what the difference was. I didn’t even realize then that all true tea came from a single plant species. I’m not talking about peppermint; chamomile or any other of those infused herbal beverages that we drink like tea. I’m talking about good old camellia sinensis; the plant from which all true “tea” comes.

I know what you’re thinking… “If all tea comes from a single plant, how do we get all of those different products with different looks, different colors, different names and most importantly different tastes?”

Therein lies the mystery.

I was shocked by this too when I first read it in a book I purchased immediately following my first cup of loose-leaf tea in the spring of 2001. But there it was in print. It spoke of the various types of tea that all came from the same plant.

I’ve now come to know that there are a few basic types of tea including white, yellow, green, pouchong, oolong, black, and pu erh. Then there are compressed teas, blended teas, scented teas and flavored teas all of which started out as leaves on a plant called camellia sinensis.

Camellia Sinensis has several sub varieties that will affect the final product. Most notably the China bush and Assam bush each with their own sub varieties. Factor in the location and altitude of the plant, climate it was grown in, season the leaf was plucked, how it was plucked, how it was cultivated and how it was processed and this gives us the myriad of teas that we can choose from.

Well… I guess I have more to say about tea than I originally thought, in fact I haven’t even begun to talk about what differentiates the basic types listed above, but if given the chance to write another column (or several columns) I’ll try to explain the differences and pretty soon they’ll be calling you Mr. Tea.