Understanding tea categories is the first step of discussing tea, the names of the categories of tea can be divided into three areas, by “level of fermentation,” “level of roasting,” and “seasons of picking.

The tea shoots, also called tea tsai, fermentation continues from the time picking starts to finally pan-roasting, and during the process of sun-drying, hot air drying, “indoor drying and stirring.” In order to suit the habits of various areas teas can be divided into non-fermented green teas, fully fermented black teas, and semi-fermented Qing tea.

Non-fermented tea
The scientific name is green tea, such as Longjing, Biluochun, Mingchun Hsiamu, Gunpowder tea, Chunmee tea, and Sencha; generally green teas all are non-Fermented teas.

Semi-fermented teas
The scientific name is qing tea, lightly fermented teas (Baozhong teas) for example Wenshan Baozhong tea (a.k.a Qing tea), Ilan Bazhong, Nangang Baozhong, Dongding tea, Songbo Evergreen tea, Mingte tea, Tieguanyin , Wuyi, and Shuixianetc; and also more heavily fermented teas such as Oolong tea, Puerh tea, etc.

Fully Fermented teas
The scientific name is black tea, according to species it can be divided into two types: little leaf black tea, and Assam black tea (big leaf). According to shape it can be divided into “strip black tea” and “broken black tea.”

＊Fermentation means the air enters into the cells of the leaves, triggering a complicated chemical reaction, resulting in the various flavors of different teas. It is especially important for semi-fermented teas. When producing tea, the main action that brings on fermentation is “stirring,” using the hands to stir the leaves, allowing the leaves to have friction with each other, causing damage to the cells around the edges, and allowing the air to enter into the leaves.

The “number and amount of time” used for roasting the tea shoots are related to the names of the semi-fermented teas. The level of roasting can be divided into light roast, medium roast, and dark roast; the tea tasting realm generally calls light roasted tea “raw tea,” medium toasted tea “half raw tea” or “half mature tea,” and dark roast tea “mature tea.” 

Tea is the essence of nature, it will vary according to natural conditions, such as too much water will cause the tea to be lighter; if the growing time is longer then naturally it will obtain more natural nutrients. So the tea produced in different seasons has the seasonal names of spring tea, summer tea, autumn tea, and winter tea.

Most people like spring tea more, and the price is higher for spring tea, but not every type of tea is best in spring, for example Oolong tea and black tea are better summer teas, because the temperature is higher in the summer, there is more catechins in the tea, the shoots are bigger and the baihao is thicker.