The Academy
Tea Types & Processing
True teas such as white, green, oolong, black and dark tea begin with Camellia sinensis. Botanical infusions come from herbs, flowers, roots, spices, fruit, rooibos and other plants. Processing and ingredients shape each cup differently; understanding that distinction makes both tea and botanical blends more meaningful.
The Major Tea Categories
White Tea
Pale, almost colorlessThe least handled of all teas. White tea is made from the youngest buds and leaves, simply withered and dried with minimal intervention. The result is a pale, silver-tipped liquor with soft floral and melon notes — the closest taste to the fresh leaf itself.
Green Tea
Light green-gold to bright jadeFixed, not oxidized. Green tea is heated early — pan-fired or steamed — to halt oxidation and preserve the leaf's green color and fresh character. Notes span cut grass, sea air, toasted nut, and spring flowers, with an alert, clean calm.
Oolong
Gold to deep amberThe partial-oxidation art. Oolong sits between green and black, oxidized anywhere from 15% to 80%. This range produces extraordinary variety — from floral, light Dancong to roasted, dark Wuyi rock tea.
Black / Red Tea
Amber to deep copperFully oxidized for depth and warmth. What the West calls 'black' tea is known in China as 'red' tea, for the color of its liquor. Full oxidation yields malt, honey, cocoa, and dried fruit notes with a substantial, warming body.
Dark / Pu-erh
Deep amber to inkAged like wine. Pu-erh and other dark teas undergo microbial fermentation and are often aged for years or decades. Flavors of earth, forest, dried fruit, and sweetness emerge and evolve over time.
Herbal / Tisanes
VariesNot tea in the strict sense. True tea comes only from Camellia sinensis. Herbal infusions — chamomile, mint, rooibos, hibiscus — are tisanes: caffeine-free traditions with their own long histories of wellness and hospitality.
From Leaf to Cup: The Processing Steps
Six core steps — and a few optional crafts — transform a fresh leaf into the tea in your cup. The choices made at each stage are the whole art.
Plucking
The harvest. Skilled hands select buds and leaves by grade and season; the timing of plucking shapes the tea's character as much as any later step.
Withering
Freshly plucked leaves are spread and allowed to soften, losing moisture and becoming pliable. Withering begins the gentle chemical changes that develop aroma.
Fixation / Kill-green
Heat is applied — pan-firing, steaming, or baking — to halt enzymatic oxidation and 'fix' the leaf's character. This is the defining step that separates green tea from black.
Rolling / Shaping
Leaves are rolled, twisted, or pressed to break cell walls and shape the leaf, releasing oils and determining how the tea will unfurl in water.
Oxidation
For oolong and black teas, leaves are exposed to controlled air, allowing oxidation to deepen color, body, and flavor. The degree of oxidation is the single greatest determinant of a tea's type.
Drying
Final moisture is removed to stabilize the tea for storage, locking in the character developed through every prior step.
Optional Craft
Roasting adds warmth and depth; aging (pu-erh) builds complexity over years; scenting (jasmine, osmanthus) layers fragrance onto a base tea.
Where It Lives in the Path