Camellia Sinensis: The Tea Plant

What is the difference between white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea?  They all come from the same plant, camellia sinensis.  The difference is in how they are processed.

White tea is the uncured and unoxidized tea leaf.  White tea usually consists of buds and young tea leaves, which have been found to contain lower levels of caffeine than older leaves.  

Green tea is tea leaves that have undergone a minimal amount of oxidation during processing either by steaming or roasting.  Green tea originates from China and was the form of tea first introduced in England. 

Oolong tea is tea leaves that are oxidized longer than green tea.  There are two different ways to process oolong tea.  Some teas are rolled into long curly leaves and some leaves are pressed into a ball form.  Oolong tea is commonly served in Chinese restaurants.

Black tea is tea leaves that are oxidized the longest.  This produces a darker tea with higher caffeine content.  Black tea is named after the color of the leaves after processing.  In Chinese black tea is referred as "crimson tea" after the color of the brewed tea.