Difference in Tea

[armormaniac]

I know there's only 1 tea plant but what makes each tea different? Is it the way they prepare the leaves or maybe where they grow makes a difference?

[entropyembrace]

Yes the growing conditions (not only location but things like how much rain there was and what fertilizers were used) and the processing are very important for making teas different from each other. But...saying there is only one tea plant is a bit misleading. Yes all the tea comes from a single species but there is lots of variation within the species and many different varietals that are being propagated by cloning (tree cuttings). Think about it like apples how many different apple varieties can you get? They're all the same species but are different from each other by genetic variation within that species.

[debunix]

Different varieties, different growing conditions, different processing, different storage....all of these are things that make teas distinctive. Wikipedia's basic article is quite good, and has a very easy-to-follow chart of how variations in processing make different types of teas.

[kstolz3419]

As I understand it, the climate, altitude, and soil quality of where the tea is grown are all very important. Then the processes carried out after the tea is harvested is what creates white, green, yellow, oolong, black, or pu-erh. Within most of those teas there are also different processing styles that have an affect. For example, the Chinese usually pan-fry their green teas to stop the oxidation, whereas the japanese prefer to steam dry their green tea.

Generally, the more the tea is allowed to oxidize, the darker and more bold it will be. So green and white teas are allowed the least oxidation, black and pu-erh teas are given the most oxidation, and yellow and oolong teas fall somewhere in between.