A Sampling of Teas

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Assam: an Indian black tea named after the region where it is produced, Assam in northeast India. Assam tea has a refreshing malty taste and is used in Irish Breakfast Tea.

Black Tea: dried and oxidized tea leaves popularly served at English style Afternoon Tea and used for making iced tea and Southern sweet tea

Chai: Indian black tea blended with spices and served sweetened with milk

Darjeeling: an Indian black tea named for the area where it is grown. One of the most popular black teas, Darjeeling has an elegant, refreshing flavor.

Earl Grey: black tea blended with bergamot, a citrus plant

English Breakfast Tea: a blend of black teas originating in Assam, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Kenya. This robust blend creates a strong tea suitable for serving with milk or sugar at breakfast. As its name suggests, this tea blend is popular throughout the British Empire.

Green Tea: tealeaves that have not been dried and oxidized. Green tea has been used as a medicinal beverage for centuries, has a refreshing taste and is high in antioxidants.

Jasmine Tea: Chinese green, black or white tea blended with dried aromatic jasmine flowers to produce a fragrantly scented tea

Lapsang Souchong: a Chinese black tea dried over burning pine, thus developing a strong, smoky flavor

Genmai Cha: Japanese green tea mixed with roasted brown rice with a hearty, popcorn-like flavor

Matcha: powdered green tea popular in Japan and used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Because Matcha is made from powdered green tea leaves, the tea drinker consumes the entire leaf, not just leaves steeped in hot water. As a result, Matcha is very high in caffeine, and has been used by Zen monks to stay awake during long hours of meditation. Matcha also has a very strong, pleasant fresh flavor.

Oolong: Wilted, bruised and partially oxidized tea, a popular beverage in Chinese
restaurants

Portuguese Milk Tea (Cha Com Leite:) green or black tea grown in Portugal and flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, honey and milk. Since Portuguese missionary priests and merchant sailors were the first Europeans to travel to Asia, it is not surprising that Cha Com Leite resembles Indian Chai.

Pu-erh: a type of post-fermented tea produced in the Yunnan Province of China, used for centuries as a medicinal tea

Sencha: a Japanese style pure green steamed tea with a refreshing, grassy flavor

White Tea: a delicately flavored and expensive tea picked from the first buds, and thus the least processed form of tea