Knowledge
Exploring the types of tea in Vietnam
Have you ever wondered what tea really is?
If Europe prides itself on wine as the pinnacle of Western culinary art, then the East has tea—a pure yet richly flavored drink, delicate and demanding a keen sensitivity from its drinkers. Tea is the essence of Asian flavor.
Surely, you’ve heard of or tasted tea. But in my experience, many people have very basic misunderstandings about tea. Here, I will briefly clarify the most essential knowledge about tea.
What is tea?
Tea is the world’s second most popular beverage after water. All types of tea around the world come from a single plant called Camellia sinensis, which grows in tropical highlands. Although it is a woody plant, tea bushes are cultivated by trimming them low to waist height to facilitate harvesting young shoots and increase yield.
Plants like trà vằng, trà vối, artichoke tea, and Huế royal tea are not true teas because they are not made from the tea plant.
How is tea made?
Tea is made from the young buds of the tea plant, which undergo five processing steps to become dry tea leaves:
Plucking: Harvesting tea buds, typically including one rolled young leaf and two adjacent leaves (“one bud, two leaves”).
Withering: Softening the tea buds. This can be done by sun withering, pan frying, or steaming depending on the desired tea type.
Rolling: Crushing the tea buds to break cells and release compounds, using hand rolling, rolling machines, or pressing. This step shapes the tea leaves into different forms (flat, hooked, rolled balls, etc.).
Oxidation: A natural enzymatic reaction with oxygen occurring during withering and rolling. Oxidation stops when heat is applied (frying or steaming) and drying begins. Controlling oxidation produces different types of tea and their unique flavors.
Drying: Removes moisture to halt oxidation completely and fixes the tea’s final form.
In industry, the CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) method is often used to produce black tea for tea bags.
Different types of tea
Depending on the degree of oxidation, teas are generally divided into three main groups:
Green tea: non-oxidized
Oolong tea: partially oxidized
Black tea: fully oxidized
There are also special types processed uniquely, such as white tea (simply sun-dried) and Pu’er tea (aged and fermented for many years).
Differences in tea varieties, growing locations, harvest seasons, and processing methods create thousands of specific teas with extremely diverse flavors.
What’s in tea?
Dry tea leaves are steeped in hot water to release their compounds into the brew, which is then enjoyed. The three main components in tea infusion are:
Essential oils: Provide the aroma and flavor of tea.
Polyphenols: Responsible for the astringency and major health benefits.
Caffeine: Like coffee and cocoa, caffeine provides energy, alertness, and is addictive.
Tea around the world
Although tea has a history of thousands of years and is deeply embedded in Asian cultures, it remains quite “local.” Each region tends to specialize in a few types and is often unfamiliar with teas from other regions:
China: famous for black tea and Pu’er
Japan: powdered tea and Japanese green tea
Taiwan: high-mountain Oolong tea
India: Chai tea
Europe and North America: black tea
Vietnam: green tea
