What Is Vietnamese Tea?

Vietnamese tea is tea that is made from plants grown in Vietnam. It is generally served brewed strong with an intense flavor. This tea can be green tea or black tea, though green tea is far more popular in Vietnam. Green tea from Vietnam is often served blended with other natural flavors, like lotus or jasmine flower. It is largely similar to tea from other areas, but it has a flavor that tea enthusiasts find to be unique to tea from Vietnam.

This tea can be packaged as a loose tea or in tea bags. Packaged Vietnamese tea often comes in tins or boxes. Generally, commercial Vietnamese tea is whole-leaf, meaning that the leaves have not been chopped into the small pieces typical of a mass-market tea bag. It is made from the same type of plant as other, more well-known types of teas like Assam and Ceylon.

Though tea is one of the most plentiful products Vietnam exports, Vietnamese tea is fairly scarce. This can mean that Vietnamese tea can be somewhat difficult to find in some areas, and it may be considerably more expensive than other types of teas, even as the country's production of Vietnamese tea continues to grow each year. Though Vietnamese tea has had a reputation for poor quality in the past, it has developed into a more highly prized specialty product, particularly with Vietnamese people who have moved to other countries.

Most of the tea in Vietnam is grown in the northern region of the country. These areas range in altitude from just a small distance from sea level to the height of a small mountain. Oolong tea flourishes in Vietnam, and this type of tea is grown in all of the provinces of Vietnam where tea plants thrive.

Black tea and green tea come from the same tea plant, but they are treated differently once they are harvested. Vietnamese tea is generally treated similarly to other teas before it is packaged and sold. Green tea, which has less caffeine than black tea, is roasted or steamed, then dried and packaged. Black tea is generally sun-roasted before it is fermented, which gives the tea its darker color.