Throughout the centuries, tea manufacturing has created four main families of tea enjoyed around the world. All categories are derived from either the Camellia sinensis or the Camellia assamica plant. It is the processing of the fresh leaves that determines the tea family: white, green, oolong, or black. Herbals, tisanes, and infusions are produced from leaves, roots, bark, seeds, or flowers of other plants. These lack many of the unique characteristics of true teas, however, and generally contain no caffeine.
WHITE is the most delicate of the tea families. Careful attention must be given to water temperature and steeping time. These teas are naturally lightly oxidized, yielding flavors that are soft and smooth, with a hint of peach pit and the lingering sweetness of honey. First produced in eleventh-century China,…
