26 Mar Types of Tea: The Complete Guide to Every Tea & How to Brew It
There are more types of tea in the world than most people realise – and they all start with a single plant.
All tea comes from one plant – Camellia sinensis. How the leaves are processed after picking determines the type: white, green, oolong, black, yellow, or pu erh. Everything else – herbal, rooibos, yerba mate, chai – is a tisane or blend. This guide covers all of them.
Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world after water. And yet most people have only scratched the surface of what it offers. If you think tea means a teabag in boiling water, this guide will change how you think about your cup entirely.
Whether you’re new to loose leaf tea or a seasoned drinker curious to go deeper, here is everything you need to know – from the plant all tea comes from, to how each type is made, what it tastes like, and how to brew it properly.
It All Starts With One Plant
Every true tea – white, green, oolong, black, yellow, and pu erh – comes from a single plant: Camellia sinensis. What makes each type different is not where the plant grows, but what happens to the leaves after they are picked. The degree of oxidation, the processing method, and the timing of the harvest all combine to produce radically different flavours from the same leaf.
There are two main varieties of Camellia sinensis worth knowing about:
– Camellia sinensis sinensis – the Chinese variety, with smaller leaves and a more delicate flavour. Used for white tea, green tea, and many oolongs.
– Camellia sinensis assamica – the Assam variety from India, with larger leaves and a bolder, more robust character. Used primarily for black tea.
There is a third variety, Camellia sinensis cambodiensis, but it is rarely used in commercial tea production.
The plant thrives at altitude, in well-drained acidic soil, with rainfall and cloud cover – which is why so many of the world’s great teas come from mountainous regions: Yunnan in China, Darjeeling in India, the highlands of Taiwan, the hills of Sri Lanka.
At Teapro, we source single-origin teas directly traceable to their growing region. No artificial flavourings, ever – because when the leaf is this good, it doesn’t need them.
The 6 True Types of Tea
All six true tea types come from Camellia sinensis. What separates them is the processing method – specifically, how much oxidation the leaf undergoes before drying.
1. White Tea
White tea is the least processed of all tea types. The youngest buds and leaves are picked before they fully open, then simply dried – either in the sun or in carefully controlled conditions. There is no rolling, no oxidation, no firing. The result is a tea that is as close to the living leaf as it is possible to get.
This minimal interference is exactly why white tea appeals to people who care about what they’re putting in their body. Nothing is added. Nothing is altered. The leaf dries, and you brew it.
What it tastes like: White tea spans a wide range. Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yinjian), made only from unopened buds, is ultra-light – soft florals, natural sweetness, a silky almost cloud-like texture. White Peony (Bai Mu Dan) adds one bud and two young leaves for a fuller, rounder flavour with gentle hay-like warmth. Shou Mei, harvested later from more mature leaves, is bolder – earthy, fruity, closer to a light oolong in character.
How to brew: 85-95°C water, 2-3g per 350ml, steep for 2-3 minutes. Premium white tea will not turn bitter even at higher temperatures – ignore guides that tell you to use 70°C water. White tea re-steeps beautifully; expect 2-3 good cups from the same leaves.
Caffeine: Low to medium – around 15-30mg per cup, paired with L-Theanine for a calm, focused energy.
White tea is a surprisingly vast category – if it’s caught your interest, our dedicated white tea guide goes much deeper into Silver Needle, White Peony, and Shou Mei.
Ready to try white tea? Our White Gold gift box includes Silver Needle and White Peony – two of the finest expressions of the type, sourced directly from origin.
Alternatively, check out our selection of white tea mini cakes.
2. Yellow Tea
Yellow tea is the rarest of the six true tea types and one of the least known outside of China. It undergoes a unique process called ‘sealed yellowing’ (men huan) – after being pan-fired like a green tea, the leaves are wrapped in moist cloth or paper and left to rest for anywhere from a few hours to several days. This slow, gentle oxidation is then repeated multiple times.
The result is a tea that sits between green and white – slightly warmer in colour, noticeably smoother and less grassy than green tea, with a mellow sweetness that is almost impossible to find elsewhere.
What it tastes like: Sweet, smooth, and gently floral. Less vegetal than green tea, with a soft mellow character. Often described as the most approachable of all the true types of tea.
How to brew: 75-85°C water, 2-3g per 250ml, steep for 2-3 minutes. Yellow tea is delicate – use cooler water and a shorter steep than you would for green tea.
Caffeine: Low to medium – similar to green tea.
Yellow tea is one of the rarest and most misunderstood tea types in the world – if it’s piqued your curiosity, it’s worth seeking out before it disappears entirely.
Ready to try it? Our Supreme Meng Ding Buds Yellow Tea is one of the finest examples you’ll find in the UK.
3. Green Tea
Green tea is made by applying heat immediately after picking to stop the oxidation process before it can begin. This is what keeps the leaves green rather than brown. The method of applying heat is where Chinese and Japanese green teas diverge fundamentally.
In China, the leaves are typically pan-fired in a wok – a process that gives Chinese green teas their characteristic toasty, nutty, or floral qualities. In Japan, the leaves are steamed, which preserves more of the fresh, vegetal, umami-rich character that Japanese green teas are known for.
Green tea is the most widely consumed tea in the world and the most researched in terms of health benefits – particularly its concentration of catechins and EGCG, powerful antioxidants associated with everything from cardiovascular health to cognitive function.
What it tastes like: Hugely variable. Chinese green teas range from floral and sweet (Bi Luo Chun) to toasty and nutty (Chun Mee) to rich and smooth (Dragon Well / Longjing). Japanese green teas tend toward grassy, umami-rich, and oceanic – think Sencha, Gyokuro, and Matcha.
How to brew: 75-85°C water, 2-3g per 250ml, steep for 1-3 minutes depending on the variety. Green tea is the most sensitive to over-brewing – too hot or too long and it turns bitter. Japanese green teas especially benefit from cooler water and shorter steeps.
Caffeine: Low to medium – around 20-45mg per cup.
Green tea is a world of its own – if you’d like to go deeper, our individual green tea guides cover Dragon Well, Gyokuro, and Monkey King in much more detail. Ready to explore?
Our Shades of Green gift box is the perfect introduction to the range – from Japanese steamed to Chinese pan-fired, side by side.
Teapro Black Label Ya’an Snowfall Jasmine Green Tea | Limited Edition
4. Oolong Tea
Oolong is the most complex category in the tea world. It is a semi-oxidised tea, meaning oxidation is deliberately started and then stopped at a specific point – anywhere from around 10% oxidation all the way up to 85%. Where it falls on that spectrum determines almost everything about the finished tea’s character.
A lightly oxidised oolong – like a Taiwanese High Mountain (Gaoshan) tea – sits close to a fresh green tea in flavour. A heavily oxidised oolong – like a classic Dan Cong or a Da Hong Pao from the Wuyi Mountains – can taste closer to a rich, dark black tea, with roasted, mineral, and honey notes.
The rolling process is also central to oolong production. Some oolongs are rolled into tight pellets that slowly unfurl through multiple infusions; others are twisted into long, elegant strands. Each shape affects how the flavour releases.
What it tastes like: The range is enormous. Light oolongs offer floral, creamy, and buttery notes (Jin Xuan, Alishan). Medium oolongs develop honey, stone fruit, and roasted edges (Dong Ding). Dark oolongs deliver roasted, mineral, and woody complexity (Da Hong Pao, Dan Cong).
How to brew: 85-95°C water, 3-5g per 150ml (gongfu style) or 2-3g per 350ml (Western style), steep for 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on the style. Oolong is especially rewarding brewed gongfu-style with multiple short infusions – each one reveals something different.
Caffeine: Medium – around 30-50mg per cup.
Oolong is the most complex category in the tea world – if it’s caught your interest, our dedicated oolong guide explores the legends, the varieties, and what makes each one unique.
Ready to try it? Our Oolong-Wulong gift box takes you through the full spectrum – from light and floral to dark and roasted.
5. Black Tea
Black tea – known as ‘red tea’ in China, for the amber colour it produces in the cup – is fully oxidised. After picking, the leaves are withered, rolled to break the cell walls and release enzymes, then left to oxidise fully before being dried. The complete oxidation process transforms the fresh green leaf into the dark, rich, robust tea that accounts for roughly 90% of all tea consumed in the West.
The character of a black tea is shaped enormously by its origin. Assam teas from northeast India are malty, bold, and brisk – built for milk. Darjeeling first flush teas are light, floral, and almost muscatel – built for drinking alone. Ceylon teas are bright and brisk. Chinese black teas like Yunnan Dian Hong are smooth, chocolatey, and full-bodied without any astringency.
What it tastes like: Bold, full-bodied, and rich – but the range is wide. From the brisk, tannic character of a strong Assam to the delicate, floral complexity of a Darjeeling, to the smooth, malty sweetness of a Yunnan gold tips.
How to brew: 95-100°C water, 2-3g per 350ml, steep for 3-5 minutes. Black tea is the most forgiving of all tea types – it holds up to boiling water and longer steep times without becoming unpleasant, though very fine black teas benefit from slightly lower temperatures.
Caffeine: Medium to high – around 40-70mg per cup.
Black tea rewards those who look beyond the teabag – if you’d like to explore further, our black tea guides cover everything from Yunnan gold tips to Darjeeling first flush.
Ready to try loose leaf black tea? Our Black & Yellow discovery box is the best place to start – bold, smooth, and nothing like what comes in a bag.
Read more: How to brew loose leaf tea properly.
6. Pu Erh Tea
Pu erh is the most misunderstood and arguably the most fascinating of all types of tea. It is the only tea in the world that undergoes microbial fermentation – a process more similar to wine or cheese-making than conventional tea production. And like wine, quality pu erh improves with age.
Pu erh can only legally be called pu erh if it comes from Yunnan Province in China and is made from large-leaf Camellia sinensis assamica. This geographical protection – similar to the rules governing Champagne or Parmigiano-Reggiano – is taken seriously.
There are two main types: Sheng (raw) pu erh, which is compressed and aged naturally over years or decades, developing extraordinary complexity; and Shou (ripe) pu erh, which undergoes an accelerated fermentation process called ‘wet piling’ to produce a tea that is earthy, smooth, and deep from the start.
Pu erh is typically sold pressed into cakes, bricks, or mushroom shapes. A pu erh knife or pick is used to carefully pry off the right amount for each brew.
What it tastes like: Young Sheng pu erh is often described as bold, bitter, and intensely complex – with camphor, leather, and smoke. Aged Sheng develops extraordinary depth: earthy forest floor, dried fruit, dark chocolate. Shou pu erh is smooth and deeply earthy from the start – think forest after rain, dark wood, hints of mushroom. Both are unlike anything else in the tea world.
How to brew: 95-100°C water, 5-7g per 150ml (gongfu) or 3-4g per 350ml (Western). Always rinse pu erh with hot water for 5-10 seconds and discard before the first proper infusion – this awakens the leaves and removes any storage dust. Gongfu brewing with multiple short infusions is the traditional method and reveals the most complexity.
Caffeine: Medium – around 30-60mg per cup, though aged pu erh often feels energising in a uniquely smooth, sustained way rather than a spike.
Teapro stocks both Sheng and Shou pu erh, pressed into traditional cakes. Our Cake Day Pu Erh Discovery Box is the best place to start if you’ve never tried it.
Pu erh is unlike anything else in the tea world – if it’s sparked your curiosity, our complete pu erh guide goes deep into Sheng vs Shou, storage, ageing, and the gongfu brewing method.
Ready to try it? Our Cake Day Pu Erh Discovery Box includes both styles along with a traditional pu erh knife – everything you need to begin.
Beyond the 6 Types: The Categories Worth Knowing
The six true teas are just the beginning. There are several other categories so distinct in their preparation, flavour, or culture that they deserve their own section – even if technically they sit within or alongside the true tea family.
Matcha
Matcha is green tea taken to its logical extreme. Weeks before harvest, the plants are covered to block sunlight – this stresses the plant, causing it to produce more chlorophyll and L-Theanine, and gives matcha its vivid green colour and distinctive umami depth. The leaves are then stone-ground into an ultra-fine powder.
Unlike all other teas, you don’t brew matcha and remove the leaves – you whisk the powder directly into water or milk and consume the entire leaf. This is why matcha has significantly more nutrients and caffeine than steeped green tea.
What it tastes like: Ceremonial-grade matcha is smooth, creamy, and rich – with a deep umami sweetness and a clean, lingering finish. Culinary-grade matcha is more bitter and astringent, designed for mixing into lattes, baking, and smoothies.
How to brew: Sift 1-2g of matcha into a bowl. Add 70-80°C water (never boiling – it destroys the delicate compounds). Whisk in a W motion until frothy. For a matcha latte, whisk with a small amount of water first, then top with steamed milk.
Caffeine: High – around 60-80mg per serving, but the L-Theanine content is also very high, producing focused, calm energy rather than the jitteriness associated with coffee.
Matcha is a rabbit hole worth going down – if you want to understand the difference between ceremonial and culinary grade, our matcha guide covers everything.
Ready to try ceremonial matcha? Our Never Too Matcha gift set is the purest introduction – no lattes, no sugar, just the real thing.
Herbal Tea (Tisanes)
Herbal tea is technically a misnomer – true tea comes only from Camellia sinensis. What we call herbal tea is more accurately a tisane: a drink made by steeping any plant material other than the tea plant in hot water. This includes flowers, roots, bark, seeds, leaves, and stems from an enormous variety of plants.
This is by far the largest category – there are hundreds of widely used herbs and thousands of possible combinations. Most herbal tisanes are naturally caffeine-free, which makes them a popular choice for evenings, for those avoiding caffeine, or as a wellness ritual throughout the day.
Some herbs worth knowing:
- Chamomile – gently floral and apple-like, traditionally associated with relaxation and sleep.
- Peppermint – cooling and refreshing, excellent for digestion and mental clarity.
- Hibiscus – tart, cranberry-like, vibrant red colour, high in vitamin C.
- Elderflower – delicately sweet and floral, beautiful blended with lighter teas.
- Butterfly Pea Flower – earthy and mild on its own, remarkable for its colour-changing properties (blue in neutral water, purple or pink when acid is added). One of the most visually dramatic herbs you can brew.
- Lemongrass – bright, citrusy, and refreshing – a natural pairing with ginger or butterfly pea.
- Rooibos – technically a legume shrub from South Africa rather than an herb, but always grouped here. Sweet, naturally caffeine-free, and rich in antioxidants.
How to brew herbal tisanes: Most herbs brew best at 95-100°C for 5-7 minutes – unlike true teas, they generally can’t be over-brewed. The exception is delicate floral herbs like elderflower, which benefit from slightly cooler water (85-90°C) to preserve their fragrance.
At Teapro, all our herbal teas and blends use only natural herbs and flowers – no artificial flavourings. When you taste our peppermint, it tastes like peppermint. Not a peppermint-flavoured compound.
The world of herbal tisanes is vast – if you’d like to explore individual herbs in more detail, our Universitea guides cover hibiscus, elderflower, peppermint, butterfly pea flower, and more.
Ready to explore? Our Herbalism gift box brings together some of the most interesting herbs we stock – naturally caffeine-free and endlessly blendable.
Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
Butterfly pea flower deserves its own mention because it has become one of the most talked-about ingredients in the tea and cocktail world – and for good reason. The dried flowers of Clitoria ternatea, a climbing plant native to Southeast Asia, produce a vivid blue infusion that changes colour to purple or pink when an acid (like lemon juice) is added.
The colour change is caused by anthocyanins – the same pigments that give blueberries, red cabbage, and purple sweet potatoes their colour. They are pH-sensitive, shifting from blue in neutral or alkaline conditions to purple and pink as acidity increases. This makes butterfly pea flower one of the most visually spectacular things you can do with a cup of tea.
Beyond the spectacle, butterfly pea flower has a mild, slightly earthy, subtly floral flavour – pleasant on its own, excellent blended with lemongrass, ginger, or hibiscus. It is naturally caffeine-free.
How to brew: Use boiling or near-boiling water (90-100°C), steep for 3-5 minutes. The longer you steep, the deeper the blue. Add a squeeze of lemon or a splash of hibiscus to trigger the colour change. Cold brew overnight in the fridge for an exceptionally clear, intensely coloured result.
Butterfly pea flower is one of the most visually spectacular things you can brew – if you want to go deeper, our dedicated butterfly pea guide covers the science behind the colour change, recipe ideas, and blending suggestions.
Ready to try it? Our Tea Magic gift box includes butterfly pea flower alongside some of the most unusual and beautiful teas we stock.
Yerba Mate
Yerba mate is not tea in the botanical sense – it comes from the leaves of the Ilex paraguariensis plant, a species of holly native to South America. But it has been consumed as a tea-like beverage for centuries and deserves its place in any serious tea guide.
Traditionally drunk from a hollow gourd through a metal straw (bombilla) that filters out the leaves, yerba mate is a social drink in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and parts of Brazil – shared among friends in a ceremony not unlike the Japanese tea ceremony in its intentionality.
It contains caffeine, theobromine (also found in chocolate), and theophylline – a combination that produces an energising effect many people describe as cleaner and more sustained than coffee, without the anxiety or crash.
What it tastes like: Bold, grassy, slightly bitter, with an almost smoky or woody edge. It is an acquired taste for many – more akin to a strong green tea than anything else. The bitterness softens with shorter steep times and cooler water.
How to brew: Traditionally in a gourd with a bombilla. For a Western brew: 70-80°C water (not boiling – it makes it too bitter), 2-3g per 350ml, steep for 3-5 minutes. Yerba mate can be re-steeped several times.
Caffeine: High – around 70-80mg per cup, with a smooth, sustained energy profile.
Yerba mate has a culture and ritual all of its own – if it’s intrigued you, our complete yerba mate guide covers the tradition, the equipment, and how to get the most from every gourd.
Ready to try it? Our Yerba Mates discovery box includes everything you need to get started – including guidance on the traditional preparation method.
Chai
Chai is not a single tea but a preparation method – the word simply means ‘tea’ in Hindi. What the West calls chai is more precisely ‘masala chai’: a blend of black tea brewed with milk, water, and a mixture of warming spices. The traditional spice blend varies by region, family, and preference, but commonly includes ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper.
The variety of chai styles is enormous. In India alone there are hundreds of regional variations. Some lean sweet and milky; others are bold and spice-forward. Some use green cardamom; others prefer black. The common thread is that the tea and spices are brewed together, not separately.
What it tastes like: Warming, aromatic, spiced – the balance between the boldness of the black tea base and the heat of the spices defines the character of each blend. A good chai should feel like a hug in a mug.
How to brew: Simmer loose chai blend in equal parts water and milk for 3-5 minutes. Sweeten to taste. Do not just steep in hot water – the milk and simmering are essential to the proper extraction of both the tea and the spices.
Chai is far more varied than most people realise – if you’d like to explore the different styles and spice combinations, our chai guides go much deeper into the tradition.
Ready to try it? Our Chaiwala discovery box brings together a selection of chai blends that show just how different this category can be.
Fruit Tea
Fruit teas – more accurately fruit tisanes – are blends of dried fruits, peels, berries, and sometimes flowers and herbs. They contain no Camellia sinensis and are naturally caffeine-free. Their appeal is in their vibrant colour, natural sweetness, and versatility – excellent hot, but often at their best brewed strong and served over ice.
Quality matters enormously here. A good fruit tisane uses real dried fruit and flowers; a poor one uses artificial flavouring compounds sprayed onto a neutral base. At Teapro, this is a non-negotiable: every fruit tea in our range uses only real dried ingredients.
How to brew: 100°C water, 2-3g per 350ml, steep for 5-7 minutes. For iced fruit tea, brew at double strength and pour over ice immediately.
Fruit tisanes are at their best brewed strong and served over ice – simple, vibrant, and naturally sweet. If you’d like recipe ideas and blending suggestions, our fruit tea guides have plenty of inspiration.
Ready to try it? Our Fruit Tea Cooler discovery box is exactly what it sounds like – perfect for summer brewing or gifting.
Rooibos
Rooibos (meaning ‘red bush’ in Afrikaans) comes from the Aspalathus linearis plant, which grows only in the Cederberg Mountains of the Western Cape region of South Africa. It is not tea in the Camellia sinensis sense – it is a legume shrub. But it is brewed and consumed exactly like tea, and its naturally sweet, caffeine-free character makes it one of the most popular alternatives in the world.
Red rooibos (the fully oxidised version) is what most people know – warm, sweet, slightly vanilla-like, with a distinctive earthy quality. Green rooibos, which undergoes minimal oxidation like a green tea, is less well known but worth seeking out – lighter, more delicate, almost grassy.
How to brew: 100°C water, 2-3g per 350ml, steep for 5-7 minutes. Rooibos cannot be over-brewed – the longer you steep, the deeper and sweeter it gets. Excellent with a splash of milk or a slice of orange.
Rooibos is one of the most underrated drinks in the world – naturally sweet, caffeine-free, and endlessly versatile. Our rooibos guide covers both red and green varieties if you’d like to explore further.
Ready to try it? Our Rooibosch discovery box is the perfect introduction – including both red and green rooibos side by side.
Quick Reference: How Processing Defines Types of Tea
Here is the simplest way to understand what separates the six true teas from each other:
| Tea Type | How It's Made | Oxidation |
|---|---|---|
| White Tea | Picked, dried | None |
| Yellow Tea | Picked, lightly heated, wrapped and rested (sealed yellowing), dried | Minimal |
| Green Tea | Picked, heat applied immediately (pan-fired or steamed) to stop oxidation, dried | None |
| Oolong Tea | Picked, withered, partially oxidised, rolled, dried | Partial (10-85%) |
| Black Tea | Picked, withered, rolled, fully oxidised, dried | Full (100%) |
| Pu Erh Tea | Picked, processed like green tea, compressed and fermented (naturally aged or accelerated wet piling) | Post-fermented |
The oxidation level is the single most important factor in determining a tea's colour, flavour, and character. The more oxidised, the darker, bolder, and more robust the tea becomes.
How to Choose the Right Tea for You
With so many options, the question is always: where do I start? Here is a simple guide based on what you’re looking for:
| If you want... | Start here |
|---|---|
| Something light and naturally sweet | White Peony white tea or a high-mountain oolong |
| Something smooth with no caffeine | A quality rooibos or a chamomile and lemongrass herbal blend |
| To move away from coffee but still want caffeine | Yerba mate or a bold Yunnan black tea |
| Something visually spectacular | Butterfly pea flower tea with lemon juice |
| Something complex and unlike anything else | Start with a Shou pu-erh and let it surprise you |
| To explore systematically | The Become a Teapro 12-box subscription — one tea type at a time with education built into every box |
A Note on Quality
The single most important thing we have learned in our years of sourcing tea is this: the quality of the tea changes everything. We once tried matcha in a high street coffee shop and couldn’t finish the cup. A year later we tried ceremonial-grade matcha from a trusted source and were completely converted. Same tea type. Completely different experience.
When buying loose leaf tea, here is what to look for:
- Single-origin where possible – knowing exactly where a tea comes from is a sign of quality and traceability.
- No artificial flavourings – artificial flavourings mask the real character of the tea. If a tea needs flavouring to taste good, it probably wasn’t very good to start with.
- Whole leaves or whole buds, not dust or fannings – the surface area of broken leaves causes over-extraction and bitterness. Whole leaves release their flavour more slowly and cleanly.
- A harvest date or season on high-end teas – freshness matters especially for green tea and white tea.
At Teapro, we apply these standards to every tea in our range. We travel to origin, taste extensively, and only bring back teas that meet our benchmark. No artificial flavourings, ever.
Start Your Tea Journey
There are so many teas to explore, and the only way to really understand them is to taste them – ideally in good company, with some context about what you’re drinking and why it tastes the way it does.
That’s what Teapro is built around. Not just selling tea, but teaching you to understand it. Every gift box, every subscription month, every Universitea guide is designed to move you one step further along the journey from tea drinker to tea pro.
The world of tea is vast, ancient, and endlessly surprising. Welcome to it.
Teapro co-founder. Favourite tea - Long Jing Dragon Well Green Tea. Obsessed with film, photography and travelling.
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