Sip Smart Strategies

Experts read the tea leaves for you and share tips for getting the most health perks and flavor from each and every cup.

- Susan Choung

Do you swear by chamomile tea to get quality shut-eye? Love yerba mate for those moments when you need a strong jolt? Or maybe you're just curious about the 3,000plus varieties of tea out there....

Let's start with the basics. All varieties of tea (black, green, white, oolong) come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What determines the color is how long the leaves are exposed to air-i.e., oxidized.

The longer the time, the darker and more robust the tea. Most white and green teas are unoxidized, oolong is semi-oxidized, and black is the most oxidized. Pretty straightforward! "Herbal tea," however, is kind of a misnomer. They're not "true" teas because they don't come from the Camellia sinensis plant. We could take a cue from the French and call them "infusions" instead.

As you might surmise, these infusions can be made from herbs (mint or lemon balm, for example), but also from flowers (lavender, hibiscus, jasmine), roots (turmeric, licorice), and leaves from plants (rooibos, nettle).