Black Tea vs Green Tea: Difference and Comparison

Tea is by far the most popular hot beverage in the world. After water, it is the most consumed drink and is presently consumed by 2 billion people all around the world.

The leaves of this plant are plucked, dried, processed, and even flavored to make tea of various colors, kinds, and flavors like black tea, green tea, oolong tea, white tree, etc.

Key Takeaways

1. Black tea undergoes a full oxidation process, producing a robust flavor, dark color, and higher caffeine content.
2. Green tea is made from quickly steamed or pan-fired leaves to prevent oxidation, preserving the green color, lighter taste, and lower caffeine levels.
3. Both teas offer health benefits, including antioxidants, but green tea is known for its potential role in weight loss and cancer prevention.

Black Tea vs Green Tea

Black tea is an oxidized tea made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. To make it, the leaves are first rolled and then exposed to air to trigger the oxidation process. Green tea is also made from the camellia sinensis plant but is not oxidized. It also has lower amounts of caffeine.

The leaves of this plant are plucked, processed and dried, and packed to form the commercially sold tea leaves that are used to brew aromatic hot or cold beverage tea. The beverage is dark brown to almost black.

Green Tea is produced from the leaves of the same evergreen shrub, Camellia sinensis. The leaves of this plant are plucked and simply dried and packed to form the commercially sold tea leaves.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Black Tea	Green Tea
Color of beverage	Once boiled in water, it stains the liquid with a dark brown or black colour.	Once boiled in water, it gives the water a greenish colour.
Processing Method	Once plucked, the leaves undergo the following process Hand or machine rolling Fermentation by exposure to air to trigger oxidation until dark brown and aromatic. Dried until crisp and aromatic	Once plucked, the leaves are simply rolled and dried. The fermentation is left out to prevent the oxidation process.
Oxidization	Oxidized	Non-oxidized.
Antioxidants	Since the leaves are oxidized, the antioxidant is low in the quantity of EGCG, a powerful antioxidant.	Green tea leaves are rich in the powerful antioxidant the EGCG
Caffeine Content	Black tea has a higher caffeine content	Green tea has a comparatively lower caffeine content.
Other nutrients	Black tea has a unique polyphenol theaflavin that acts as an antioxidant.	Green also has some other polyphenols like catechin and gallic acid.
Effect on Brain	It contains a comparatively smaller amount of amino acid L-theanine that increases brain alertness and focus.	Contains a comparatively larger quantity of L-theanine boosting the brain.
Effect on Weight Loss	Black tea has less effect on weight loss.	The caffeine and catechin content of green tea aid in faster weight loss.
Effect on Cancer	Since it is low on antioxidants, it has less effect on cancer cells.	Since it is high in antioxidants, it is highly effective against cancer cells.

What is Black Tea?

Black tea is the most popular tea type consumed. Its leaves come from the plant Camellia sinensis. These leaves are either hand or machine picked.

Black tea is high in caffeine content, and this effectively energizes the mind and helps the brain to get alert and focused. It has theaflavins that act as an antioxidant and calms the mind.

Black tea can be consumed by boiling the leaves in water for a minute or two. Additional flavoring is also added to these leaves, like ginger, cardamom, etc.

What is Green Tea?

Green tea is a health-beneficial beverage whose leaves are obtained from the plant Camellia sinensis. These leaves and plucked and dried to form the commercially available product.

Green is correctly brewed by soaking the leaves in warm water, as boiling the leaves like black tea might destroy its antioxidant properties.

It has a lower caffeine content and hence is an alternative if you are looking for a less startling drink. It also has other substances like catechins that aid in all the above-mentioned functions.

The famous varieties of green tea are Macha, Sencha, Gyokoru, Longjing, Gunpowder, etc.

Main Differences Between Black Tea and Green Tea

1. Black tea has lower health benefits than green tea due to its higher caffeine and lower quantity of antioxidant content in comparison to green tea.
2. Black tea is more widely consumed than green tea. It is also prepared with milk, while green tea is consumed as it is.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743504005456
2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07315724.2006.10719518