ABOUT TEA
Tea is usually named after its origin, cultivar, processing procedure, oxidation level, roasting level, harvest season and so forth. Roughly speaking, there are six major types of tea: green tea, yellow tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea and dark tea.
Tea can also be categorised into non-oxidised tea, semi-oxidised tea, and full-oxidised tea depending on its oxidation levels of polyphenol oxidase (PPO). The enzymatic oxidation activity, affected by temperature, humidity, and processing, determines the oxidation level and influences the colour, aroma, and flavour of the final produce. The post-fermented tea, meanwhile, belongs to a different kind of processing: tea leaves are piled and fermented by micro-organisms under appropriate temperature and humidity.
All tea is actually from the same plant – camellia sinensis – and different processing turns them into different kinds of tea. The processing may appear simple, but each step including growing, plucking, manufacturing, refining and packaging, involves exceptional diligence and mastery from every artisan.
