Black Tea vs. Green Tea: Differences Between the Teas

Green tea is a general term reserved for the loose-leaf tea made from the leaves and buds of Camellia sinensis plants, produced predominantly in China and consumed worldwide. Sencha, a Japanese green tea, is one of the most popular varieties of green tea. Manufacturers in Japan steam and then hand-roll sencha tea leaves to maintain its delicate, grassy flavor. Matcha is another type of green tea that growers process by grinding the green tea leaves into a fine powder. Then the consumer prepares the tea by mixing the matcha with boiling water.

Tea manufacturers produce black tea using the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant—the same tea plant they use to produce green tea. Popular varieties of black tea include Darjeeling and Assam, which are both products of India, as well as Ceylon, which is a product of Sri Lanka. Several varieties of black tea leaves also grow in China. Some types of black tea, such as English breakfast tea or Irish breakfast tea, contain a mixture of different black tea leaves, while Earl Grey is typically an Assam or Darjeeling tea infused with bergamot oil.

Black tea and green tea come from the same plant, although differences in their processing result in differences in caffeine, color, and taste.

• Caffeine: A cup of green tea contains less caffeine—twenty-five to thirty-three milligrams—than a cup of black tea as a result of the shorter processing time. Black tea contains about forty-seven to fifty milligrams of caffeine per cup (still less than the amount of caffeine you will find in a cup of coffee). The longer the tea bag brews, the higher the caffeine content.
• Color: Once tea manufacturers harvest the green tea leaves, they gently heat them—usually with steam—which helps prevent high levels of oxidation. This process maintains green tea’s green color. In black tea production, the leaves undergo a longer oxidation process, also called the tea’s fermentation process. This gives black tea leaves their dark brown or black color.
• Polyphenols: Since all teas derive from plants, they contain polyphenols—organic compounds that include flavonoids (such as catechins), tannins, and theaflavins. However, black tea and green tea contain different types and amounts of polyphenols. For example, green tea contains a high amount of epigallocatechin gallate (also called EGCG), the most abundant catechin found in tea, while black tea contains more theaflavins, which contribute a reddish color. Tea also contains L-theanine, an amino acid that gives green tea its brothy flavor.
  
• Taste: A shorter steaming process—in other words, a shorter oxidation process—preserves and even enhances green tea’s natural flavor profile and prevents the bitterness that is typical of black tea. In contrast, black tea undergoes a longer oxidation process, resulting in a much stronger taste than green tea.

Other types of tea that tea drinkers could confuse for black tea or green tea include white tea, herbal tea, chai tea, and oolong tea, all of which are actually different categories of tea altogether.

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