Tea is a beverage made by steeping processed leaves, buds, or twigs of the tea bush, Camellia sinensis, in hot water for a few minutes. The processing can include oxidation, heating, drying, and the addition of other herbs, flowers, spices, and fruits. The four basic types of true tea are (in order from most to least processed): black tea, oolong tea, green tea, and white tea. The term "herbal tea" usually refers to infusions of fruit or of herbs (such as rosehip, chamomile, or jiaogulan) that contain no Camellia sinensis . (Alternative terms for herbal tea that avoid the word "tea" are tisane and herbal infusion.) This article is concerned exclusively with preparations and uses of the tea plant C. sinensis.

Tea is a natural source of the amino acid theanine, methylxanthines such as caffeine and theobromine, and polyphenolic antioxidant catechins. It has almost no carbohydrates, fat, or protein. It has a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavor.

Black tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is one of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black).

Black teas are the most consumed of the four types of teas. They are the highest in caffeine, but still have antioxidant properties, just not quite as much as others. What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created.

In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out. Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins.

When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long. The Processing of Black Tea:

The processing of black tea requires a full oxidation of the leaves. After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to wither for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water evaporate.

Then the leaves are rolled in order to crack up the surface so that oxygen will react with the enzymes and begin the oxidation process. The leaves are left to completely oxidize, thus turning the leaves to a deep black color.

After that, a final drying takes place. From there, it goes off to be sorted, graded, and packaged.

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Green tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is one of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black).

Green teas, like white teas, are closer to tasting like fresh leaves or grass than the black or oolong. They are also lower in caffeine and have higher antioxidant properties. What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created.

In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out.

Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long. The Processing of Green Tea:

The processing of green tea is similar to that of white tea in that it does not oxidize. After the leaves are plucked, they are (sometimes) laid out to wither for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water evaporate.

Then, in order to neutralize the enzymes thus preventing oxidation, the leaves are steamed or pan fried.

Next the leaves are rolled up in various ways and tightness. After that, a final drying takes place. Since no oxidation took place, the tea has more of a green appearance. From there, it goes off to be sorted, graded, and packaged.

White tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is the least common of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black).

White teas are the least processed of any tea and therefore taste the most like fresh leaves or grass. They also have the lowest amount of caffeine and most likely have the highest antioxidant properties. What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created.

In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out. Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to the air resulting in oxidation.

The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long. The Processing of White Tea:

First of all, white tea starts with just the tightly rolled buds of the camellia sinensis plant. White tea does not go through any oxidation at all.

In order to prevent oxidation, white teas are immediately fired or steamed after letting them wither (air dry) for a period of time. There is no rolling, breaking, or bruising of any kind.

The dried buds have a silver-like appearance because the tiny white hairs of new growth are still present. This is probably why the most popular white tea (at least in the US) is called Silver Needle.

Oolong tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is one of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black).

Oolong teas are the most difficult of the four types of teas to process. The best way to describe oolong tea is that they are somewhere in between green and black tea. This is because they are only partially oxidized during the processing. What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created.

In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out.

Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long. The Processing of Oolong Tea:

The processing of oolong tea requires only a partial oxidation of the leaves. After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to wither for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water evaporate.

Then the leaves are tossed in baskets in order to bruise the edges of the leaves. This bruising only causes the leaves to partially oxidize because only a portion of the enzymes are exposed to air.

Next, the leaves steamed in order to neutralize the enzymes and stop any oxidation. Oolong tea can have varying degrees of oxidation. Some are closer to black teas, and some are closer to green.

After that, a final drying takes place. From there, it goes off to be sorted, graded, and packaged.

A tisane, ptisan or herbal "tea" is any herbal infusion other than from the leaves of the tea bush (Camellia sinensis). The English word "tisane" originated from the Greek word (ptisan?), a drink made from pearl barley.

Tisanes can be made with fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots, generally by pouring boiling water over the plant parts and letting them steep for a few minutes. Seeds and roots can also be boiled on a stove. The tisane is then strained, sweetened if so desired, and served. Many companies produce herbal tea bags for such infusions.

Many blends of real tea are prepared by adding other plants to an actual tea (black, oolong, green, yellow or white tea); for example, the popular Earl Grey tea is black tea with bergamot, Jasmine tea is Chinese tea with Jasmine, and Genmaicha is green tea with roasted rice. Such preparations are varieties of tea, not tisanes.

Herbal teas are often consumed for their physical or medicinal effects, especially for their stimulant, relaxant or sedative properties. The medicinal effects of certain herbs are discussed under herbalism. The medicinal benefits of specific herbs are often anecdotal or controversial, and in the United States and elsewhere, makers of herbal teas are not allowed to make unsubstantiated claims about the medicinal effects of their products.

While most herbal teas are safe for regular consumption, some herbs have toxic or allergenic effects. Among the greatest causes of concern are: Comfrey, which contains alkaloids that can cause permanent liver damage with chronic use. Lobelia, which contains toxins similar in effect to nicotine. Pineapple weed, which is sometimes sold as chamomile, is closely related to ragweed and can cause violent allergic reactions in hay fever sufferers, up to and including anaphylactic shock and death.

Herbal teas can also have different effects in different people, and this is further compounded by the problem of potential misidentification. The deadly foxglove, for example, can be mistaken for the much more benign (but still relatively hepatotoxic) comfrey.

The UK currently does not require natural products such as herbs to have any evidence concerning their efficacy, but does treat them technically as food stuff and require that they are safe for consumption.