Black tea is the most familiar tea type to North Americans and Europeans. The popular Earl Grey and English Breakfast are both black teas. Other teas less familiar to the Western world also abound, including smoky and seductive Lapsang Souchong, one of our most distinctive teas.

Black tea is the most intensively processed type of tea. The leaves are allowed to fully oxidize, creating their black color before they are dried, giving black tea more complexity, more astringency and fewer vegetal overtones than are typically found in other teas. Astringency is the "dry mouth" sensation left by tannins in tea, familiar to drinkers of a cabernet sauvignon, or other wine. It is this astringency that pairs so nicely with dairy and sweetener. Achieving the right balance of astringency is one of the leading indicators of quality in a black tea.

While the name refers to the color of the leaves, the liquor produced from brewing is generally reddish-orange-brown in color. Good black tea can usually be steeped hotter, longer and stronger than other tea types, which is one reason that black tea contains the most caffeine per cup.

At Tea Forté, black tea blends abound. Some are straight and pure from the cupping; while others are blended with subtle hints of blackberry, vanilla and even pomegranate. While black teas have also been grown in regions of Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kenya and Indonesia, our tea comes from the leading tea producing nations of China, India and Sri Lanka.

The least processed teas are white teas. White teas contain only the buds and very young leaves of the tea plant. As a result, they are rarer and often more expensive. Their straightforward, yet delicate taste and health profile, similar to green teas, have helped them burst onto the Western tea scene in recent years.

While white teas are "less processed" than greens, they are actually usually more somewhat more oxidized. Mild oxidation occurs during the "wilting" stage, when white tea is air-dried after it is first picked. It is then baked, dried further, and it may be very lightly rolled, but little is done to change what was picked from the plant. Because white teas are slightly oxidized they don't usually need to be steeped as carefully as greens. Unlike green tea, steeping white tea with boiling water, or for a longer time period or time, will still produce good results.

Grown mostly in the famous Fujian province white teas have several well-known and rare blends. The most famous is Bao Hao Yinzhen or "Silver Needles". White tea is picked between March 15 and April 10 when precipitation is at its lowest, insuring a fair amount of undamaged and unopened buds. This is a very high grade tea and one of the most sought after, prized and revered blends for the tea connoisseur.

While green and black teas have been flavored and scented for centuries, flavored white teas are a relatively new creation. We have found that white tea enhances other flavors, and consider our White Ambrosia blend to be among our most innovative.

Herbal Teas include everything one can possibly steep or infuse in hot water that does not originate from the tea bush, Camellia Sinensis. This means that herbals are, by definition, not tea; rather they are more precisely called "tisanes". However, many people are simply more familiar with the term "herbal tea" than with "tisane," so herbal tea suits us just fine.

Herbal teas include herbs, flowers, berries, spices, roots, fruits or other flora sources. Long used for their medicinal qualities, most of the ingredients in our herbal teas have been consumed for centuries, even millennia. Herbals include such classic remedies as nausea-reducing ginger and sleep-inducing chamomile, as well as more exotic flavors like rooibos: a South African staple that produces a deep red and deliciously floral elixir that is at least as antioxidant-rich as any tea, yet naturally caffeine-free.

All are wonderfully unique and naturally caffeine-free and suited for anyone, at any time of day. In short, herbal teas open up a whole new vista in the palate of possibilities.