Tea Drunk Academy
Tea 101
Begin with the leaf in the cup. Learn what tea is, how one plant becomes six categories, and how place, plant, and craft reveal themselves in taste.
Begin Tea 101Begin with the plant
What is tea?
Tea is the leaf of Camellia sinensis. Green, Yellow, White, Wu Long, Red, and Black Tea all begin with this one plant. The category changes because the leaf is handled differently after it is picked—not because each category comes from a different plant.
Herbal infusions can be delicious, but they are made from other plants. This distinction gives you a clear starting point for understanding the traditions, craft, and sensory language of tea.
One plant, six expressions
Meet the six tea categories
The six categories are shaped by processing. Start by noticing the broad direction of each family; precision comes with tasting and comparison.
Green Tea · 綠茶
Freshness is preserved by stopping fermentation early. The cup may suggest tender greens, nuts, flowers, or sea air.
Yellow Tea · 黃茶
A gentle sealed-yellowing step softens the green edge and develops a round, quiet sweetness.
White Tea · 白茶
Withering and drying allow the leaf to transform slowly, often revealing hay, flowers, fruit, and depth with age.
Wu Long · 烏龍茶
Partial fermentation and intricate craft create a wide spectrum—from lifted fragrance to mineral structure and deep roast.
Red Tea · 紅茶
Thorough fermentation builds sweetness, fruit, malt, spice, and a glowing red liquor. This is commonly called black tea in English.
Black Tea · 黑茶
Post-fermentation continues the tea’s transformation through microbial activity, producing earthy, woody, mellow, or camphor-like character.
Read the evidence in the cup
Place, plant, and craft shape taste
Terroir is the growing place: mountain, soil, weather, elevation, ecology, and the human history surrounding a tea. Cultivar is the plant variety, with inherited traits that influence aroma, structure, and how the leaf responds to making. Craft is the sequence of choices that transforms fresh leaf into finished tea.
These forces are inseparable in the cup. Tea study becomes more rewarding when you ask not only whether you like a tea, but what in its place, plant, and making may have created what you perceive.
Taste before memorizing
Make your first careful brew
Use good water, enough leaf to notice its character, and a brewing vessel that lets you observe. Taste several short infusions and watch how aroma, texture, finish, and the opened leaf change. You do not need a perfect vocabulary; begin by describing what is actually present.
Choose the next door
Continue from here
Move into Tea Fundamentals for structured serious-beginner study, follow the history behind tea, keep the glossary beside you, or return to the Academy to explore by topic. The resources below are a beginning, not a test you must finish in order.
Continue to Tea Fundamentals · Know the story · Open the Tea Glossary · Explore the Academy