Green tea in the context of "White tea"

Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves, leaf buds, and stems are used to produce tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (unrelated to Melaleuca alternifolia, the source of tea tree oil, or the genus Leptospermum commonly called tea tree).

White tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, dark tea (which includes pu-erh tea) and black tea are all made from two of the five varieties which form the main crops now grown, C. sinensis var. sinensis and C. s. var. assamica, but are processed differently to attain varying levels of oxidation with black tea being the most oxidized and white being the least. Kukicha (twig tea) is also made from C. sinensis, but uses twigs and stems rather than leaves.

Herbal teas or herb teas, technically known as herbal infusions, and less commonly called tisanes, are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of any herbs, spices, or other plant material in water that is not derived from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis). Many herbs used in teas/tisanes are also used in herbal medicine and in folk medicine. Herbal teas are not technically teas because they are not brewed from the tea plant.

The term "herbal tea" is often used to distinguish these infusions from true teas (e.g., black, green, white, yellow, oolong), which are prepared from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) or, more rarely, its close relatives (such as Camellia taliensis). Beverages actually created from tea and combined with material from other plants are known as "blended teas", "scented teas", or "flavored teas". Examples include jasmine tea, genmaicha, and Earl Grey tea. Unlike true teas, most tisanes do not naturally contain caffeine (though tea can be decaffeinated, i.e., processed to remove caffeine).

The Japanese tea ceremony (known as sadō/chadō (茶道, 'The Way of Tea') or chanoyu (茶の湯) lit. 'Hot water for tea') is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha (抹茶), powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called temae (点前).

The term "Japanese tea ceremony" does not exist in the Japanese language. In Japanese the term is Sadō or Chadō, which literally translated means "tea way" and places the emphasis on the Tao (道). The English term "Teaism" was coined by Okakura Kakuzō to describe the unique worldview associated with Japanese way of tea as opposed to focusing just on the presentation aspect, which came across to the first western observers as ceremonial in nature.

Earl Grey tea is a tea blend which has been flavoured with oil of bergamot. The rind's fragrant oil is added to black tea to give Earl Grey its unique taste. However, many, if not most, Earl Greys use artificial bergamot flavour as this is cheaper and it has a longer shelf-life. The taste of the artificially flavoured teas is considered to be less well-balanced than that of naturally flavoured Earl Grey.

Traditionally, Earl Grey was made from black teas such as Chinese keemun, and therefore intended to be served without milk. Sometimes it is blended with lapsang souchong tea, which lends a smoky character. Other varieties have been introduced as well, such as green or oolong.

Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white, and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from leaves of the shrub (or small tree) Camellia sinensis, though Camellia taliensis is also rarely used.

Two principal varieties of the species are used – the small-leaved Chinese variety plant (C. sinensis var. sinensis), used for most other types of teas, and the large-leaved Assamese plant (C. sinensis var. assamica), which was traditionally mainly used for black tea, although in recent years some green and white teas have been produced.

Kukicha (茎茶), or twig tea, also known as bōcha (棒茶), is a Japanese tea blend made of stems, stalks, and twigs of the tea plant. It is available as a green tea or in more oxidised processing. Kukicha has a unique flavour and aroma among teas, due to it being composed of parts of the plant that are excluded from most other teas.

Regular kukicha material comes from production of sencha or matcha. When coming from gyokuro's production, it takes the name karigane (雁ヶ音 / かりがね) or shiraore (白折 / しらおれ).