Essential Teas

Must-taste teas:

Most basic teas

Chinese

Yunnan Black tea (dian hong)

- Frequently sold as: golden monkey, black dragon pearls, golden needle, this tea is aromatic and malty. The intense flavor comes from the golden trichomes (hairs) that give the tea its color and name. The more golden the tea is, the better, but even tea with a small bit of gold on it is tasty.

Keemun Black Tea (Black tea)

- Keemun is a black tea from the ... wait for it... Qimen County in the Anhui province of China. It is more floral and fruity than yunnan black tea, although it shares similar processing.

Dragonwell (Longjing) (green tea)

- This is the most popular tea in China. While true longjing can only come from Longjing Village near Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, China, this more generally refers to any green tea that has been pan fried in a way that preserves the leaves in long, thin needles. This tea has a rich, nutty flavor.

TieGuanYin (Iron Goddess) (oolong)

- This is the second most popular tea in China. Grown in the Anxi region, this tea is partially oxidized and rolled into small balls. Each ball has two leaves and a bud. It can be more or less roasted, but the most popular varieties today are very green (often called "nuclear" or "jade" green), and the more heavily roasted types are considered old-fashioned. TGY is extremely aromatic and has a smooth, almost buttery taste.

Bai MuDan (White Peony) (White tea)

- This is a white tea, which means it has been minimally processed and has no oxidation. It is made up of a leaf shoot with the two adjacent very young leaves. It is floral, fresh and sweet.

Silver Needle (White Tea)

- This is also a white tea. It is generally considered of higher quality as Bai MuDan because it is made only from the leaf shoot, and usually of higher quality leaf. The silver color again comes from the trichomes. It is more delicate in flavor than Bai Mudan.

(Can you tell? More hairs = more aromatic, delicate tea).

Indian Subcontinent

Assam (Black tea)

- This is the most traditional and widely spread variety of tea. So much that the most widely grown cultivar of tea, used to make many varieties, is called *assamica*. Assam is a dark, astringent, malty tea, perfect with milk and sugar. It is usually processed as broken-leaf tea, designed for Western-style brewing.

Ceylon (Black tea)

- This is tea from Sri Lanka (sometimes called Ceylon). It is fruitier and less astringent than Assam, while still being a strong tea that can take milk and sugar well. Ceylon and Assam are often blended together.

Chai (or Masala Chai) (literally spiced tea)

- This is any blend of tea (although usually assam or an assam/ceylon blend) with spices usually including cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, among others. A traditional drink in India and elsewhere, this tea is extremely popular and usually taken with milk and sugar to make the strong, astringent flavor more palatable.

(Earl Grey)

(this is usually an assam and ceylon blend, although it doesn't have to be. The Blend is actually unique to England. It mixed black tea from the Indian subcontinent with bergamot oil and sometimes other citrus oils from the Mediterranean. The strong citrus flavor helped compensate for the absolutely abominable water quality in England.)

Japan

Sencha (Green tea)

- Unlike Chinese green teas, which are pan-fried, Japanese green teas are processed by steaming! This leads to a strong, vegetal, and some say seaweedy flavor. Sencha is the most typical japanese green tea, hitting the sweet spot between quality and expense.

Genmaicha (Roasted barley tea)

- This is green tea that has been blended with roasted barley, or sometimes roasted rice or other grains. It has the umami flavors of japanese tea along with a nutty, grainy flavor that makes it perfect for a warm cuppa after dinner.

Teas that require a bit more understanding or care

If you have tried everything on the list above, then you hopefully by now have some idea of what you like in tea. If you like dark, malty flavors, you can get lost for years in the varieties of black tea (many of which are not listed), or you might want to try aged puerh. If you really liked TGY, you should definitely try other oolongs. If the longjing was the best thing you've ever had, there are dozens of varieties of green tea that you can explore, and listing them all would be a bit unproductive (especially as "longjing" is the only type that is so well defined).

Here are a few more varieties that I did not list above, but are very well defined and definitely require their own recommendation.

I didn't list these ones above because they have strong flavors that are acquired tastes, or require a lot of skill to brew, or are too expensive, to be good recommendations for beginners. In particular, Puerh is a very pungent, unique flavor, and is only worth trying from a vendor that specializes in puerh, for example.

Darjeeling

- Darjeeling is a very delicate, floral tea from West Bengal. Grown in the foothills of the himalayas, darjeeling is produced with a unique processing. This processing is most similar to that used for oolongs, but the product is in some ways like a black tea (black colored leaves), and in some ways like a light tea (floral, does better with cooler temperatures). Meant to be brewed Western style, this can be somewhat of a challenge to pull off in that style without it getting bitter.

Teas from Nepal and Tibet are like Darjeeling, but even more so.

Dan Cong Oolong

- Dan Cong is an extremely flora oolong from Guangdang in southern China. It is renowned for the processing which lets it imitate various flavors, like orchid, almond, orange blossom, etc. However, it can be tricky to brew in a way that maximizes the aroma without it getting bitter. Following traditional brewing styles is best for this oolong.

Matcha

- Matcha is green tea from japan where the tea leaves were shaded for two weeks, then deveined. The tea is ground after processing. This produces a very fine green powder. Unlike most tea, Matcha is not brewed, but is suspended in water using a whisk. To make a good tasting suspension requires a whisk and some skill. Nutty, sweet, and umami, matcha packs a lot of punch in a small serving.

Teas that are amazing, but difficult to get at a beginner budget

Gyokuro

*Real* Longjing, or high quality sheng puerh

Taiwanese Oolongs

Wuyi Oolong (Shui Xian or Rou Gui )


Sheng Puerh

Shou Puerh (ripe, or cooked, fermented tea)