Teas: an amazing variety

Did you know? There are many different types of tea.

The most well-known are:

• Black tea
• Green tea
• White tea
• Oolong tea
• Pu-erh tea

What is the difference? Their oxidation (green tea is unoxidised, black tea completely oxidised and Pu-erh naturally oxidised over a long period). They can be flavoured (with fruit, petals, or aromas) or enjoyed on their own.

Rooibos is often considered to be a 'red tea', but it is actually an infusion, rather than a tea. It's not derived from the tea plant (Camellia Sinensis) like the others, but from a South African shrub called Aspalathus Linearis and it doesn't contain any caffeine.

Other lesser-known varieties include yellow and purple tea.

Each has its specific benefits, but they all contain antioxidants, which are known to provide health benefits.

Did you know? A wealth of different teas with various subtle flavours can be found around the world, so much so that there are actually tea sommeliers dedicated to the art of tea.

So what is the difference between the varieties of tea? Aside from the soil, climate and date of harvest, all of which contribute to the character of the end product, it is in fact the transformative processing of the leaves after harvesting that determines its "colour".

Tea at MONIN

Several flavours based on teas are available at MONIN, mainly in our Le Concentré range.

Some of these have been developed especially for the production of premix iced teas, such as Peach Tea concentrate, Raspberry Tea concentrate and Lemon Tea concentrate. All three products contain tea extract, juice, natural flavouring and do not contain any colouring.

The Chai Tea concentrate is ideal for preparing the famous chai tea latte, a traditional Indian beverage whose history goes back more than 5000 years!

For simple and lighter applications that retain the taste of the original ingredient, we offer three concentrates:

• White Tea concentrate,
• Rooibos concentrate,
• Green Tea concentrate.