Green Tea, Black Tea. What's the Difference?

Millions of people around the world drink tea every day. It is arguably one of the most commonly consumed drink around the world. There are two different common kinds of teas, green and black. While both are products of the same plant, Camellia sinensis, the various processing patterns lead to different properties. There are also teas like Oolong teas which sit between black and green tea and have wonderful flavours. In this article, we're just going to focus on black and green teas as a primary key type and compare the two in terms of flavour and other characteristics.

Green Tea

When it comes to green tea, the leaves are first heated right after they are plucked from the plant. This keeps the leaves from oxidizing. As the leaves become dry, they pick up their green color, hence the name, green tea.

Nutrients

For the production of this type of green tea, the leaves do not undergo a complete oxidation process. This lets green tea keep some of the essential nutrients, making it a healthier alternative to black tea. Furthermore, since this tea is not oxidized completely, it does not contain much caffeine.

Contains Less Caffeine

As a general rule, green tea has less caffeine in black tea. Many people choose green tea instead of black, thinking that the former does not contain any caffeine. It does contain caffeine and so you need to be mindful of that when you're drinking it.

Stronger Among the Two

Green tea is also not the strongest of the lot. It, however, holds far more therapeutic benefits than black tea. In fact, this form of tea is mostly consumed due to a large number of antioxidants that are present in it.

Black Tea

For the preparation of black tea, the leaves are left to dry after plucking (a process known as ‘withering’). After that, they are crushed, either by hand or a machine. The crushing of the withered leaves allows for the oxidation process to begin. This process of oxidation is why the leaves turn black. These leaves are then put through the fire in ovens to impede the process of oxidation.

Most Commonly Consumed

When the leaves of the same Camellia sinensis plant are fully oxidized, we get black tea. It is most commonly consumed in parts of Asia. Black tea contains more caffeine than its greener variant.rnThis is often why people tend to consume it in the morning and in the afternoon, times when you need something strong to nudge away sleep.

High Acidity Levels

Being the stronger variant, black tea is also considered more acidic. However, that can be balanced out by adding a bit of lemon into the drink. There is not much comparison among the two on the therapeutic matter though. Green tea beats black tea there by a fair margin, courtesy of the fermentation process.

Production Areas

Despite being a product of the same plant, green and black tea is produced in different quantities in various parts of the world. For instance, China and Japan are known for processing the best green tea. On the other hand, India is the leader when it comes down to the production of black tea. Tea is available in several different forms around the world. However, green and black tea remains the most commonly opted for, worldwide.