What Types of Tea Are There? A Complete Guide to Common Tea Classification

       There are many varieties of tea, with China having the most. At present, there is no unified method for classifying tea; different standards yield different classification methods. Among them, one method based on processing method and quality, using the degree of tea polyphenol oxidation as the order, divides primarily processed tea into six major categories: green tea, yellow tea, dark tea, oolong tea, white tea, and black tea. This method has been widely adopted in the industry. In addition, based on the commercial form of tea, tea can be divided into seven major categories: black tea, green tea, scented tea, oolong tea, white tea, compressed tea, and instant tea.

In other countries, tea classification is relatively simple. Europe divides tea into three major categories based on commercial characteristics: black tea, oolong tea, and green tea. Japan divides tea into non-fermented tea, semi-fermented tea, fully fermented tea, and post-fermented tea according to the degree of fermentation.