There are many names for different teas, but there are really only three different kinds of tea. Black tea, the kind we usually drink in America, is fermented and roasted before it’s packaged.
Green tea, enjoyed by the Japanese, is steamed but not roasted, and it’s not fermented. A third kind of tea, oolong tea, is partially fermented, then roasted to give it greenish-brown color.
Terms such as orange pekoe and souchong don’t refer to different kinds of tea, but to the size and appearance of the leaves that are used to make that tea. Orange pekoe, for instance, is made from the buds and the finest leaves of the tea plant. Souchong is made from smaller pieces of tea leaves.
There are more than 2,000 different blends of tea!
