Life in Mainland China
The six teas: a Chinese conversation with pinyin and English
Green to dark, by how far the leaf oxidises.
The conversation
Speakers: Haoran and Wanqing.
- Haoran
话说回来，中国茶到底分几种？
Anyway, how many kinds of Chinese tea are there, really?
- Wanqing
一共六大类，全按茶叶氧化的程度来分。
There are six main categories, all sorted by how oxidized the leaves are.
- Haoran
完了，你拿上铅笔了，看来又要画图讲解了。
Oh no, you've got your pencil out. Looks like I'm getting another drawing lecture.
- Wanqing
绿茶发酵最少，得赶紧高温杀青，喝着特清爽。
Green tea has the least fermentation and needs to be pan-fired right away, so it tastes super crisp and refreshing.
- Haoran
这个我知道，泡绿茶可不能用沸水，要不该发涩了。
I know that one—you shouldn't use boiling water for green tea, or it gets all bitter.
- Wanqing
白茶只经萎凋和干燥，滋味甘润。黄茶最少见。
White tea just goes through withering and drying, so it's sweet and smooth. Yellow tea is the rarest.
- Haoran
那乌龙茶呢？
What about oolong tea?
- Wanqing
属于半发酵。同一壶叶子能泡好多次，所以我带了超多水。
That's semi-fermented. You can steep the same leaves lots of times, which is why I brought a ton of water.
- Wanqing
现在来个翻译陷阱：咱说的红茶，在英文里叫啥？
Now for a translation trap: what's our hongcha called in English?
- 黑茶 Black tea
- 绿茶 Green tea
- 玫瑰茶 Rose tea
Answer
黑茶 Black tea
- Haoran
叫黑茶！他们是按茶汤颜色叫的。
It's called black tea! They name it after the color of the brewed tea.
- Wanqing
对，茶汤是红艳的。所以中文里的黑茶指的是另一种。
Right, the liquor is bright red. So black tea in Chinese refers to something else entirely.
- Haoran
哦，黑茶，就像普洱那种？
Oh, heicha, like Pu'er?
- Wanqing
要经渥堆发酵，经常压成茶饼，还能一直陈化。
That goes through pile-fermentation, often gets pressed into tea cakes, and just keeps aging over time.
- Haoran
那我得现在买点儿，等我八十岁再喝。
Well, I should buy some now and drink it when I'm eighty.
- Wanqing
这是你今天最靠谱的主意了。
That is the most sensible idea you've had all day.
Words in the conversation
Notes
- Green tea (oxidation: none). Fresh, grassy, sometimes nutty or like chestnut; pale green-gold in the cup. Longjing (Dragon Well), Biluochun, Huangshan Maofeng, Xinyang Maojian.
- White tea (oxidation: very light). Soft, sweet and honeyed; a pale apricot colour. Silver Needle, White Peony.
- Yellow tea (oxidation: light). Mellower and less grassy than green tea; the rarest of the six. Junshan Yinzhen, Mengding Huangya.
- Oolong (oxidation: partial: from light to heavy). From flowery and creamy to roasted and mineral; brewed many times from the same leaves. Tieguanyin, Da Hong Pao, Phoenix Dancong.
- Black tea, called red tea in China (oxidation: full). Malty, sweet, sometimes like cocoa or dried fruit; red-amber in the cup. Keemun, Dianhong, Lapsang Souchong.
- Dark tea (oxidation: post-fermented). Earthy, smooth and deep; dark red-brown in the cup. Ripe pu'er, Liubao, Anhua dark brick.