Part 5: Rooibos Tea

As you may know, on your path to Tea Enlightenment, I, Master Amanzi have offered you many tea tips. Most recently, I have been explaining about the different kinds of tea. I have told you about the four types of tea: white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. Since these are actually made from tea leaves, technically, these are the only kinds of tea. But there are other tea-like beverages that are called tea. Since the Way of Tea is open to all, I will explain a bit about them as well. Today we shall talk about rooibos tea.

As I have said, rooibos tea, also called “red tea” or “redbush tea,” isn’t actually tea at all. Rooibos,  (pronounced “roy-boss”), is Afrikaans for “red bush;” it’s made from the leaves of a legume bush that grows in South Africa. It is prepared just like tea and is thus considered a member of the tea family, but since it is not from Camellia Sinensis leaves, it could at best be considered a distant cousin.

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Part 4: Black Tea

You have learned, along with my other students, about white tea, green tea, and oolong tea. Now I, the Master Amanzi, will further enlighten you to the many types of tea.

Black Tea, like the other teas mentioned above, is derived from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. It is the most common type of tea, and whether by coincidence or not, it has the strongest flavor and the most caffeine as well. This is because after the tea leaves are picked, they are then put through more processing than any of the other types of tea, and experience the most oxidation.

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Part 3: Oolong Tea

Greetings Tea Lovers and Students of the Way of Tea.

I, Master Amanzi, prompted by one of my newest apprentices, have elected to briefly describe  the differences between the different kinds of tea. While most have an understanding of the difference between iced tea and hot tea, or why to use loose tea rather than a tea bag, few understand the difference between a white tea and a black tea, for example.

I have already told you a bit about white tea and green tea. Today, let me explain to you a little bit about  oolong tea.
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Part 2: Green Tea

As you may recall, I, Master Amanzi, have decided to help clear up some confusion about the different types of tea. As my once-exiled student pointed out to me, it is not clear the difference between green tea and oolong, or what exactly makes an herbal tea herbal (and not actually a tea at all—but we shall address that later.)

I have already explained to you about white tea, which is one of the more rare and expensive teas. Today, I shall impart a bit of knowledge unto you about green tea.
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Part 1: White Tea

Greetings Tea Lovers and Students of the Way of Tea.

The other day one of my young apprentices asked me the difference between white tea and black tea. It stunned me, the Tea Master Amanzi, for it seemed so elementary, and yet my student did not know! As he was escorted from the grounds for his ignorance, it occurred to me that perhaps there are others like him out there.

There are many types of tea. Like my young tea student, you might be confused. Words like “oolong” and “rooibos” mean little to you while words like “herbal” and “white” seem too vague. So I shall nudge you down your path to enlightenment by telling you more about the Basic Types of Tea.
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Do you love tea? Look deep into yourself, and see—is a nice cup of hot tea right there in your heart? Do you think of herbal tea as a nice way to relax and become one with the universe, at peace? Only you know the answer to this for sure. Only you can see into yourself.

It is said, “Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.” It is an old Chinese proverb. It probably has some deeper meaning. Search your soul for it if you want to know it. I am uninterested in that. I, Master Amanzi, have communed with the Great Tea Being in the sky. I have read the tea leaves, and I know the Way of Tea. I am a Tea Master.

Today I will teach you the very first step of the Way of the Tea Master. It is not the way of the Tea Bag. Beware, for down that path lies bitterness. No, for a truly good cup of tea, one must follow the Way of the Loose Leaf.

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Loose Leaf Tea is an art—delicate and precise, like brewing tea itself. The taste is more pure, less bitter, natural and organic. Loose tea is the way that tea was meant to taste.

But if you, like many tea drinkers, have only made tea with a tea bag, it is time you learned how to make it my way. Tea leaves should have room to expand and swirl around on their own in the water so that their natural flavor can be released. This is the easy part. The difficult part comes when it is time to drink. How will you drink the tea without swallowing the leaves? Ah, there is the riddle.

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