Tea is the world’s most popular drink, except for plain old water. Whether we’re talking matcha, Earl Grey or oolong, it’s all made from the leaves of one species of plant, Camellia sinensis. (Any other tea-like brew is technically a tisane or herbal tea.)
That one tea plant yields teas in an astonishing rainbow of varieties: green and black, yellow and white, and other types and subtypes. The leaves contain hundreds to thousands of different molecules that contribute to the beverage’s aroma, flavor and potential health benefits, says Young-Shick Hong, a metabolomics specialist at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea.
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