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We are thrilled to announce that the Tranquil Tuesdays tea collection is now available at one of our favorite places in Brooklyn: Court Street Grocers!

Did you know all tea comes from the same plant?

Yes, all tea regardless of green tea, black tea, or white tea (whatever the type) originates from the same tea plant: camellia sinensis.   So that means there is no such thing as a “green tea plant” or a “black tea plant”.  What distinguishes a green tea from a black tea has to do with how the tea leaf is processed.  

What differentiates one tea from the next?

What separates a particular tea from another such as our White Peony White Tea from our Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong are three factors: the specific plant cultivar the leaves were grown on, the terroir where the tea plant was grown, and the processing method of the leaves into dried tea. Within the camellia sinensis family there are two main varietals and hundreds of cultivars.   In China, these hundreds of cultivars of the tea plant have been created and groomed to produce many variations of the tea plant suited for different climates or different intended outcomes (larger leaves vs smaller leaves for instance).  

All teas are not created equal

But before we get into the amazing diversity and variety of teas grown on different cultivars within the camellia sinesis plant family, I just wanted to make sure it is clear what makes something a tea vs. not a tea. Tea isn’t simply some kind of leaf brewed in hot water.   The key distinguishing standard of what makes a tea vs. an herbal leaf drink is whether or not the leaves came from the camellia sinensis plant. So that means herbal “teas” like mint, chamomile, chrysanthemum, rooibos, or yerba mate which are not from the tea plant, camellia sinensis, are really not a tea.  They may be drunk in a similar manner to the way tea is consumed, but technically they are herbal tisanes. Now you know what qualifies as a tea vs. not a tea!

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What the Chinese Character for Tea 茶 Tells us About Tea

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what about a word that is a picture? One of the cool things about Chinese characters is it is a picture composed of different elements that tell a story about the idea or concept it represents.  The Chinese character for tea 茶(cha） which has represented tea since the 8th century is particularly illustrative.

What is so Rad about Radicals

Chinese characters can be broken down into different elements called radicals.  The thing about learning Chinese is there is no alphabet—so you can’t sound out words the way you can with many other languages. So while Chinese doesn’t have an alphabet you can assemble together to create words by sound, you do have building block elements called radicals. What each radical represents can give you a clue to what the character means. The radicals that comprise the character for tea tell the elegantly simple story of how tea is a natural plant that we can enjoy as tea thanks to the people who help us harvest it.

Leaves, People, and Trees: The Essence of Tea Represented.

The Chinese character for tea is broken down into three radicals: the top part 艹(leaves) the middle part 人(person) and the bottom part 木(tree).  Each of these radicals reminds us of the essential factors for harvesting and creating tea: trees, people, and leaves. So put that together in the order it is combined in the character: a person in a tree picking leaves—which is exactly how tea is harvested in China.  People handpick tealeaves off the tea tree plant and use those leaves to create the enchanting beverage tea.

How Tea is Actually Picked in China Today

Tea is still handpicked in China today.  Now the majority of tea trees are trimmed to bushes about waist high to facilitate tea picking (see photo above).   Two of the teas in our collection, the Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong Tea and our Ancient Tree Raw Pu’er are grown on trees that are untrimmed and left to grow into a full tree. When you visit these areas you will sometimes see tea pickers carrying ladders to help ascend trees as we did when we visited Phoenix Mountain to source our Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong tea (see photo above). As you can see in the photo above, of a woman picking pu’er tea leaves in Yunnan, where our Ancient Tree Raw Pu’er is from, women (and it is mostly women) climb onto the tree and pick the leaves—just like the Chinese character for tea suggests. There is something so mesmerizing to consider how elemental tea is: leaves, people, and trees that the same character has represented tea for the last 1300 years. While tea production and consumption styles have evolved and changed throughout the centuries, the basic elements remain the same: you can’t have tea without leaves, people, and trees.

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If you enjoyed this article, sign up for Tranquil Tuesdays' newsletter to

Explore the stories behind each of Tranquil Tuesdays teas and teaware

Travel with Tranquil Tuesdays seeking the best teas and teaware in China

Learn the historical and cultural elements that make Chinese tea and teaware so unique