Sip Into Something More Comfortable: The Steamy Secrets Behind Your Favorite Cup

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By Mia Bolaris-Forget

If you’re tired of dishing out five dollars or more for a latte, here’s the latest scoop on some of the tastiest trends that will satisfy your cravings to a tea.

1. Green Tea: A popular beverage from the orient made of leaves that are withered and rolled, but heated dry (or “fired”) to prohibit fermentation. Green teas thus offer a lighter, fresher tasting (pale green, or yellow) tea with a mild grassy or flowery flavor.

2. Black Tea: Bolder and spicier, black teas require the most processing. Leaves are plucked, withered, rolled, heated and finally fermented (oxidized) for that extremely exotic taste and hue.

3. Oolong Tea: Not too dark, not two light, this tea offers the best of both worlds and is somewhat of a “compromise” between the richer black teas, and the lighter, fruitier green teas. Oolong blends are fermented similarly to black teas, but only partially. Formosa oolong, a distinct selection from Taiwan, is believed to be on of the best.

4. White Tea: Among the most exotic and least processed of teas. This “blend” is neither” fermented or withered. Instead, it is steamed and dried. This unique composite is picked only at daybreak in four northeastern Chinese provinces, and often features buds covered with long silvery hairs, which contribute to its gray color. Among the most popular are silvertip, pekoe and white needle.

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