There are six categories and one plant
Green, white, yellow, oolong, black and dark tea all come from Camellia sinensis. What separates them is processing — chiefly whether oxidation was prevented, completed, or halted partway. Anything that is not that plant is a botanical infusion, or tisane: chamomile, rooibos, peppermint. That distinction matters practically, because tisanes take boiling water and long steeps that would ruin most tea.
Four things decide what ends up in the cup
How much leaf, how hot the water, how long it steeps, and whether you take the leaf out afterwards. Leaf quantity sets the ceiling on strength. Temperature decides what comes out first — the harsh compounds extract faster in hot water than the sweet ones, which is why boiling water on green tea gives a cup that is thin and bitter at once. Get the first two roughly right and everything else is adjustment.
What to ignore for now
Grades and long abbreviations. Cultivar names. Elevation claims. Anything about a tea being ceremonial, rare, or a particular year. None of it tells you whether you will like a tea, and most of it is priced accordingly. Equipment can wait too — a mug, a strainer and water off the boil is a working setup.
Buy small, buy several, compare
Fifty grams each of four different teas will teach you more than half a kilo of one, and you will drink them while they are still fresh. Tea fades rather than spoiling, so a large packet of something you turn out not to like is a slow disappointment. Brew two side by side when you can — comparison develops judgement far faster than attention to a single cup.
Where to go next
If you want a specific recommendation, `guide-choosing-first-tea` names actual teas and says why. If you want a method for exploring rather than a shopping list, `guide-how-to-start-exploring` covers that. If something has already gone wrong in the cup, the troubleshooting pages are more useful than either.