Kinds of Tea

There are several varieties of tea plants, some of them hybrids. However, the characteristics of the many kinds of commercial tea depend on soil and climatic conditions, cultivating and harvesting practices, and manufacturing processes rather than on the plant varieties.

The general classifications of commercial tea are based on the type of processing. The three most important classes are (1) black tea, leaves that have been fermented; (2) green tea, which is unfermented; and (3) oolong tea, which is partially fermented. Teas are identified also by the location in which they were grown. Most tea in the world market is black tea.

Formerly, black teas were graded according to the age of the leaves. The leaf bud at the tip of the shoot and the youngest, and therefore smallest, leaf made up the leaf grade called orange pekoe. Pekoe was produced from the second youngest leaf, souchong from the third, and congou from the fourth.

In addition, there were broken grades, such as broken orange pekoe and broken pekoe. These grades were given to leaves that had been accidentally broken during processing. Fannings and dust were the grades made up of the smallest pieces of leaves and shoots.

Today, however, these names indicate only the size of the leaves after processing. Leading manufacturers in the modern tea industry process only the leaf bud and two youngest leaves on a shoot, and teas are graded by passing the processed leaves through sieves of varying mesh sizes. In the 20th century, a growing demand for broken grades brought about the development of techniques and machines for cutting and crushing the leaves. (Broken grades brew more quickly, and produce a darker, stronger tea. They are often used in tea bags.) Broken orange pekoe, broken pekoe, fannings, and dust are the principal black tea grades.

Green tea also is graded by sieving. Leaf grades include hyson, gunpowder, and twanky. Oolong tea is not graded according to size.

Tea that reaches the consumer is usually a blend of products from several regions selected according to flavor and aroma, strength, grade, and price. For example, a package of tea may contain various India and Ceylon broken pekoe teas and some India fannings.