What is the Difference Between Green Tea and Black Tea?

Did you know that green tea and black tea come from the same plant?

Yup, you read that right — they both come from the Camelia Sinensis plant, know as the Tea plant. Actually, all teas come from the Camelia Sinensis plant and the only difference between them is how they are processed after harvesting.

Side note: It should be noted that ‘Herbal Teas’ are not actually considered ‘Tea’ because they are not made from the Camelia Sinensis plant! They should really be referred to as a Tisane, which is a fancy word for an herbal infusion.

Black teas go through a process called Oxidation.After the leaves of the Camelia Sinensis plant are harvested, they are exposed to oxygen in order to dry the leaves quicker. This can be done by using fans to dry the leaves. Basically they air dry the leaves. The process of oxidation can be observed when you cut an apple and leave it out for a bit and it starts to turn brown. Its the same principal! This is also why black teas are a dark brown/blackish color.

In order to make green tea, the goal is to reduce the amount of oxidation the leaves experience as much as possible! Instead, the leaves are roasted in order to dry. This is done by basically cooking the leaves or pan-frying them. This is why green teas remain green! Because of the way they are dried, green teas tend to have a much higher concentration of chlorophyll, polyphenols, and antioxidants than other tea types. Because the leaves are cooked, green tea has less caffeine content than black tea.

The difference in processing the tea leaves, leads to a different look, smell, aroma, and benefit of the teas. Keep this in mind the next time you are deciding which type of tea to make!