Tea, Chinese

Chinese teas are traditionally divided into three main categories: fermented black teas (sometimes called “red” teas); unfermented green teas; and semi-fermented teas (sometimes called “brown” teas, to distinguish them from the black and the green). All three types are made from the leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), an evergreen shrub native to China and India with leathery green leaves that have a serrated edge and a sharp, tapered point. Left uncut, the shrub becomes a tree. Tea cultivation, however, involves pruning the shrubs repeatedly to a height of 3 or 4 feet, to encourage the new shoots called “flushes” that bear two tender small leaves and one tiny, unopened bud and are used for the finest grade of tea.