My wife and I have started an online tea store, called Relax, Sip & Enjoy, that we hope to kick off in May or June of this year. I have been a tea lover for the past 5 years, drinking mainly green teas from China and Japan. I have been purchasing my loose-leaf tea in bulk and then vacuum sealing the tea in 1/4 lb bags for maximum freshness and long-term tea storage. It was only natural that this much passion for tea would end up as an online tea business.
Although I am knowledgeable about all kinds of tea, I have only drunk green tea (green tea descriptions). To get a better feel for the taste differences, I have been drinking white tea, oolong tea, and black tea for the past 3 months. Although I understand that everyone has their own tea preferences, these darker, more oxidized teas are quite frankly, not my cup of tea (bad pun intended).
One of the things you will notice from oolong teas and black teas is the higher caffeine content. If you are not a sound sleeper to begin with, I would not drink any of these teas at night for fear of falling asleep. Green tea has the least amount of caffeine and doesn't seem to effect my sleep, although it does give me a bit more energy during the day.
I have also noticed that my teeth and tongue are starting to show a noticeable amount of staining due to the darkness of oolong and black teas. And, yes, I do brush my teeth the recommended 2 times a day. I am now using the Colgate whitening strips to counter the effect these teas have had on my teeth.
And, last, oolong and black teas have less antioxidants than in green tea (catechins). Therefore, not only do you get the "ill" effects of higher caffeine and stained teeth, you also have less of the health benefits of Green tea.
Given this, my wife and I will be focusing on chinese green tea and japanese green tea for our tea business and only carrying about 2 or 3 of the more popular white, black, and oolong teas. If you are thinking about drinking tea for its health benefits, please try green tea first and then only oolong or black teas if you can't seem to acquire a taste for green tea. White tea is supposed to be even better health-wise than green tea, but the taste is pretty harsh for me and the prices are very high. However, certainly try white tea as well to see if it agrees with you and if the price is not out of your budget.