Black Tea vs Green Tea: What's Actually Different?
They Start as the Same Leaf
Every tea, black or green, comes from the same plant: Camellia sinensis. A bush that grows across southern China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and dozens of other countries. What makes a tea "black" or "green" is not the plant. It is what happens to the leaf after picking.
The difference is oxidation: the same chemical process that turns a sliced apple brown. Control that process and you control the flavour, the colour, and the character of the cup.
How Black Tea Is Made
After picking, black tea leaves are withered (spread out to lose moisture), then rolled to break the cell walls and release the enzymes inside. The leaves are left to oxidise fully, sometimes for several hours, in warm, humid conditions. Finally they are dried with heat to stop the oxidation and lock in the flavour.
Full oxidation is what gives black tea its dark copper colour, its brisk body, and those malty, sometimes fruity or chocolatey notes. It is also why black tea stands up well to milk.
In our range, Dragon Breakfast is a blend of two Chinese black teas: Yunnan (malty, smooth, honey undertone) and Keemun (cocoa, stone fruit). Keemun Gold is a single-origin unblended Keemun from Anhui province, where the tea has been made since 1875.
How Green Tea Is Made
Green tea takes the opposite approach. After picking and a brief wither, heat is applied quickly to stop oxidation before it starts. The method varies by country:
- Chinese method (pan-firing): the leaves are tossed in a hot wok or drum. This produces a nuttier, sometimes toasty character. Our Chinese Gunpowder is pan-fired and tightly rolled into small pellets that unfurl in hot water.
- Japanese method (steaming): the leaves are briefly steamed, which preserves a brighter green colour and a more vegetal, marine flavour. Our Premium Japanese Sencha from Kagoshima is processed this way.
Because the oxidation is stopped early, the leaf stays green and retains a different set of flavour compounds. Green tea tends toward grassy, vegetal, floral, or marine notes rather than the malty richness of black tea.
Flavour Differences
Black tea is typically malty, brisk, sometimes sweet, with notes of chocolate, dried fruit, or caramel depending on the origin. It has body. It is robust enough for milk and sugar. A cup of English Breakfast Supreme or Old English Breakfast in the morning is the tea equivalent of a firm handshake.
Green tea is lighter, more delicate. Think grassy, vegetal, marine, sometimes nutty or floral. Best drunk without milk. Jasmine Green Tea Supreme is a good example of how green tea can carry a fragrance: the leaves are scented with fresh jasmine flowers over six consecutive nights, and the floral character lingers in every cup.
Neither is "better." They are different tools for different moods.
Caffeine
A common claim is that green tea has less caffeine than black tea. The truth is more nuanced. The caffeine content of the dry leaf is similar. What differs is how you brew it.
Green tea is typically brewed at a lower temperature (70-80°C) and for a shorter time (2-3 minutes). Both of these factors extract less caffeine from the leaf. Black tea, brewed hotter and longer, releases more.
So a cup of green tea usually does contain less caffeine than a cup of black tea, but it is because of preparation, not the leaf itself. Neither is caffeine-free. If you are sensitive to caffeine in the evening, both should be approached with the same caution.
Which Should You Try First?
It depends on what you drink now.
- If you are a builder's-tea person and want to upgrade from bags: start with English Breakfast Supreme or Old English Breakfast. These are familiar territory, done properly. Milk-friendly, morning-ready, but with more depth and flavour than any teabag.
- If you want something lighter and different: Jasmine Green Tea Supreme is a gentle entry point. The jasmine fragrance makes it immediately appealing, even if you have never had green tea before.
- If you are curious about Chinese tea: Keemun Gold sits at the intersection. It is technically a black tea, but its character is lighter and more refined than an Assam or a breakfast blend. Cocoa, stone fruit, a hint of orchid. It is the tea that introduced Europe to Chinese black tea in the first place.
- If you want the best of both: Dragon Breakfast blends a Yunnan and a Keemun, giving you the body of a breakfast tea with the complexity of single-origin Chinese leaf.
Whatever you choose, brew it properly. Water temperature matters more than anything. See our brewing guide for the specifics.