Being Tea Co

Tea Types & Processing Guide

Tea leaves, vessels, and clear infusions arranged for the Being Tea Co tea library.

The Being Tea Co field guide

One plant. Many paths through craft.

Tea is made from Camellia sinensis. Cultivar, place, harvest, and especially processing shape the principal families. Tisanes belong beside this map, but not inside it.

Fuzzy silver white-tea buds, open leaves, and pale tea beside a bamboo withering tray.

White tea

Wither · Dry. Transformation through time, airflow and gentle handling.

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Flat pan-fired green-tea leaves and yellow-green liquor beside a wok used for heat fixation.

Green tea

Fix · Shape · Dry. One family, from pan-fired chestnut to steamed ocean air.

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Yellow-tea buds, mellow gold liquor, and fixed leaves held in plain paper for controlled yellowing.

Yellow tea

Fix · Yellow · Dry. A rare family defined by a deliberate warm, humid stage.

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Rolled oolong, amber-gold liquor, and an opened leaf with green center and bruised red margins.

Oolong

Wither · Bruise · Oxidize · Fix. Not one midpoint, but many traditions of controlled transformation.

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Wiry whole-leaf black tea, red-amber liquor, and oxidizing leaves on a rolling board.

Black tea / hongcha

Wither · Roll · Oxidize · Dry. The English black-tea family is hongcha—red tea—in Chinese.

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A clean dark-tea brick cross-section, loose fermented leaf, and chestnut-brown liquor.

Dark tea / heicha

Fix · Roll · Ferment · Dry. The family where microbial transformation becomes central.

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Raw Pu-erh cake, loose sun-dried maocha, and apricot-gold liquor in soft window light.

Sheng Pu-erh

Sun-dried maocha · Compress · Transform. Raw Pu-erh changes slowly; storage becomes part of its biography.

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Ripe Pu-erh brick and loose dark leaf beside a low cup of clear mahogany liquor.

Shou Pu-erh

Maocha · Wet pile · Dry · Compress. A deliberate microbial process, not a shortcut that copies old sheng.

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Separate chamomile, mint, ginger, rooibos, and hibiscus ingredients with ruby hibiscus infusion.

Tisanes

Herb · Fruit · Root · Spice. A neighboring world of infusions—not one seventh tea family.

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A processing compass

Wither

Remove water and begin physical and chemical change.

Fix

Use heat to slow enzymatic oxidation.

Bruise

Disrupt cells to encourage controlled oxidation.

Yellow

Hold fixed leaf warm and moist for a distinct transformation.

Ferment

Invite controlled microbial transformation in dark tea.

Finish

Dry, roast, scent, blend, grind, or compress after primary making.

Choose a brewing method