Which tea should you choose as a beginner?

Entering the world of tea may seem complicated.

Green tea, black tea, matcha, pu-erh, rooibos, sencha, Earl Grey, genmaicha… The names multiply quickly and advice sometimes seems contradictory.

Yet, you don’t need to know every terroir or every production method to choose your first tea.

The best starting point is already in your tastes.

Do you like cool, vegetal drinks? Gourmand flavors? The bold flavors of coffee? Fruity notes? Are you looking for a drink for the morning, to accompany a meal, or to end the day peacefully?

This guide helps you find an initial direction without turning the tasting into an exam.

There is no single best tea to start with

An experienced enthusiast may recommend their favorite tea. That does not mean it will become yours.

A very vegetal sencha may delight one person and surprise another discovering tea without sugar. A bold black tea may seem comforting to a coffee lover, but too strong to someone who prefers delicate infusions.

The right first tea is the one that makes you want to prepare a second cup.

To find it, start with three simple questions:

1. What flavors do you already enjoy?
2. When do you want to drink your tea?
3. Are you looking for a mild, fresh, or intense cup?

You like coffee and bold drinks

Start with a black tea.

Black tea generally develops an amber to coppery liquor and bolder flavors than many green teas. Depending on its origin and composition, it may evoke malt, wood, honey, spices, cocoa, or ripe fruit.

This family is often an accessible transition for coffee lovers.

For a bold cup upon waking

Choose an Assam black tea or a morning blend. Assam teas are known for their generous, malty character. They can accompany breakfast and, depending on taste, support a cloud of milk.

For a more fragrant cup

Try an Earl Grey.

Black tea is then flavored with bergamot, a citrus fruit whose fragrance adds a fresh and elegant dimension. It is an interesting entry point when the taste of plain black tea seems too direct.

In the shop, you can discover Deep Blue, our Earl Grey with bergamot and blueberry.

How to prepare it?

Use water around 90°C and start with a steeping time of about three minutes.

Black tea steeped too long can become strongly astringent. It is better to taste after three minutes and then extend it slightly if you are looking for more intensity.

You like fresh and vegetal flavors

Head toward a green tea.

Unlike black tea, green tea is heated early in its production to greatly limit the enzymatic oxidation of its leaves. It thus retains often more vegetal, fresh, or marine profiles.

But not all green teas are alike.

To discover a vegetal cup

Try a sencha. It can present notes of fresh grass, green vegetables, light seaweed, or an umami sensation. Its personality is clear and refreshing.

However, sencha requires water that is less hot than black tea. A temperature that is too high can accentuate its bitterness.

Start around 70 to 75°C, for about two minutes.

You can start with Émeraude des Mers, our Lu Yu Sencha.

For a mild and gourmand discovery

Choose a genmaicha.

Genmaicha generally combines Japanese green tea with roasted rice. Its notes evoke toasted cereals, hazelnut, or sometimes popcorn.

It makes an excellent first encounter with green tea: the roasted rice softens its vegetal character and creates a very comforting cup.

Discover the Japan Genmaicha with Bancha and puffed rice.

You like fruity and gourmand flavors

A flavored tea or a fruit infusion will probably be your easiest path.

These blends combine a base of tea or herbs with fruits, flowers, spices, or natural aromas. They offer immediately recognizable profiles and allow you to start without looking for the nuances of a plain tea.

To keep the character of the tea

Choose a flavored black tea or green tea. You will find the structure of the tea beneath the notes of fruit, citrus, or flowers.

For a drink without tea leaves

Turn to a fruit infusion.

An infusion can contain fruits, flowers, herbs, or spices without Camellia sinensis. It therefore naturally does not have the caffeine coming from the tea plant.

Fruit infusions can be enjoyed hot, but also prepared and then cooled to obtain a summer drink.

An important tip

Do not choose solely based on the name of the blend.

Read its composition. A name evoking the tropics can hide a very tart hibiscus dominance, while a blend presented as gourmand may contain mostly spices.

You like mild and rounded drinks

The rooibos is an excellent option.

Originating from South Africa, rooibos does not come from the tea plant Camellia sinensis. It is prepared from Aspalathus linearis.

Its coppery red liquor generally presents a rounded, mild, and low-astringency flavor. Depending on the blend, it can evoke honey, soft wood, vanilla, or dried fruit.

Rooibos naturally contains no caffeine. It can therefore be enjoyed in the evening or offered to people who wish to avoid stimulating drinks.

For a first discovery

A plain rooibos allows you to understand its profile. A rooibos flavored with vanilla, citrus, or fruit will be even more accessible to lovers of gourmand drinks.

How to prepare it?

Rooibos handles water close to boiling and a fairly long steeping time well, generally five minutes.

It rarely becomes as bitter as over-steeped green tea, which makes it particularly easy to prepare.

You are looking for a drink for the evening

Your choice depends mainly on your sensitivity to caffeine.

All true teas—green, black, white, oolong, or pu-erh—come from the tea plant and naturally contain caffeine, often called theine when it is found in tea.

The amount present in the cup varies depending on the tea, the dosage, and the preparation. It is therefore difficult to guarantee that a tea will suit all sensitive people.

For a caffeine-free evening drink coming from the tea plant, prefer:

• a rooibos;
• a fruit infusion;
• an herbal infusion without green tea or black tea;
• a blend explicitly stated as caffeine-free.

A mild infusion can become a real end-of-day ritual without requiring complicated preparation.

You are looking for something bold and original

The pu-erh may interest you, but it is not always the first most agreeable choice.

Originating from Yunnan, China, pu-erh belongs to the family of post-fermented teas. Depending on its type and evolution, it can present woody, earthy, mineral, fruity, or forest-floor notes.

Ripe pu-erh

Ripe pu-erh, or shu, often offers a dark liquor and a rounded texture. Its woody character can appeal to lovers of coffee, dark cocoa, or deep drinks.

Raw pu-erh

Raw pu-erh, or sheng, can be brighter, more vegetal, and more complex. Its evolution depends heavily on its age and storage conditions.

To start, choose a clearly described product and follow the preparation instructions. Very hot water is generally suitable, but the dosage and duration must be mastered.

You are drawn to matcha

The matcha is often one of the first names a person curious about Japanese tea encounters.

It is not steeped like ordinary leaves. The powder is suspended in water and then whisked. You therefore consume the leaf material itself.

Its profile can be vegetal, mild, intense, and rich in umami. However, poorly prepared or insufficiently high-quality matcha can seem very bitter to a beginner.

To start under the right conditions

• Use a small amount of powder, about 1.5 to 2 grams.
• Pour a small amount of water around 70 to 75°C.
• Whisk quickly until obtaining a fine foam.
• Do not pour boiling water: it risks making the cup aggressive.

Matcha can be an excellent discovery when you like intense vegetal flavors and its preparation ritual attracts you.

You are still hesitating: start with an assortment

When several families attract you, a discovery pack is often more relevant than a large bag chosen at random.

It allows you to compare different sensations:

• the freshness of a green tea;
• the roundness of a rooibos;
• the boldness of a black tea;
• the gourmand nature of a flavored blend;
• the fruitiness of an infusion.

Prepare each sample while respecting the recommended temperature. The same tea can seem delicate when correctly steeped and become bitter with water that is too hot.

Simply note what you feel: too light or too bold, vegetal or woody, mild or bright, fruity or floral, pleasant in the morning or rather in the evening.

You will quickly start to recognize your own family of tastes.

The three most frequent mistakes

Choosing only the most prestigious tea

A rare tea is not necessarily the best starting point.

Its price may reflect a terroir, a limited harvest, or particular work. But its subtleties do not necessarily match your current tastes.

Start with an aromatic family that attracts you.

Using boiling water for all teas

Very hot water is suitable for many black teas, pu-erh, rooibos, and infusions. It is often too aggressive for a delicate green tea or a matcha.

The temperature profoundly transforms the cup. To understand why, consult our Tsuru guide on temperature and steeping time.

Letting steep until the liquor is very dark

An intense color does not mean that all aromas are better extracted.

Steeping too long can especially accentuate astringency and mask the nuances of the tea.

Use a timer during your first preparations.

Which tea to choose according to your tastes?

What quantity to buy to start?

A large format is not always necessary when you do not yet know a tea.

With about two grams of leaves per cup, a 50-gram bag already allows you to make around twenty-five preparations, depending on your dosage and the size of your teapot.

A small packaging or an assortment is therefore more than enough to discover a profile and adjust your preparation.

Then buy a larger quantity when you know you will enjoy having this tea again.

Our advice to start well

Do not immediately look for the most complex tea.

Choose the one whose description makes you want it.

Prepare it a first time according to the recommendations. Taste it without sugar, even if you decide to add some later. Change only one parameter during the next cup: a little less hot, a little shorter, or slightly more dosed.

You will thus discover that tasting tea does not require having an expert palate.

It mainly requires attention and curiosity.

Your first tea may not be the one you will drink your whole life.

But it can be the one that makes you want to embark.

To continue your discovery, also consult the Tsuru Collection and the other articles of the Tea Journal.

© 2026 Cap sur le Thé. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, even partial, is prohibited without prior written authorization.

Article written by the crew of Cap sur le Thé — discover our story.