How do you ferment/process green tea leaves into black tea?

Question

What are differences in
Orange Pekoe,
Black Pekoe,
oolong,
Darjeeling

I know earl grey is treated with bergamot (Not my fave)

Answer 1

Tea is made by processing the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant.

After the leaves of the camellia Sinensis plant are plucked the amount of time the leaves are allowed to whither and oxidize, also known as ferment, determines the variety of tea the leaves become.

After withering the leaves are rolled or shaken to break the leaf cells. This causes the leaves to oxidize. (ferment).

The fermentation of green tea is stopped after a short period of time. This is done by either pan frying or steaming the leaves.

Black tea after plucking is both withered longer and oxidized (fermented) for a longer period of time. Therefore either green tea or black tea is made. It is not green tea into black tea.

The simplest way to explain Oolong tea is that it is fomented longer than green tea but shorter than black tea. These teas are always whole leaf teas. Taiwan is famous for it's Oolong teas.

Darjeeling is an area in the state of West Bengal, which is in India. This area hosts many tea gardens. The tea in this area is processed using the time honored orthodox manner. The process is done by hand and modern machinery is not involved in any way. For this reason they are know for the very highest quality rather than quantity. Darjeeling teas are referred to as the champagne of tea. They are usually processed as black tea.


Orange Pekoe is a leaf size generally regarded as a good quality tea. The word orange in this instance has nothing to do with color, aroma or flavor.

I have never heard the term black pekoe used in reference to tea grades, or for that matter in any other way

For information on other varieties of tea http://www.your-cup-of-tea.com/varieties-of-tea.html

Answer 2

Usually tea is processed by letting it dry naturally in the sun.

I believe Pekoe (is a grading system) which refers the sorted sizes of the tea leaves and does not refer to a type of tea. However, I've never heard of Black Pekoe, just Orange Pekoe.

Oolong and Darjeeling are types of tea.

Oolong is tea from China that is not fully fermented so it's a tea that sort of in the middle between green and black tea.
Darjeeling is fully fermented (black) tea from Darjeeling in India.

Answer 3

Black tea is more oxidized than the green, oolong and white varieties.

All four varieties are made from leaves of Camellia sinensis. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor and contains more caffeine than the less oxidized teas.