Black tea
Black tea is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor than other teas. All four types are made from leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis. Two principal varieties of the species are used – the small-leaved Chinese variety plant, used for most other types of teas, and the large-leaved Assamese plant, which was traditionally mainly used for black tea, although in recent years some green and white teas have been produced. In China, where black tea was developed, the beverage is called "red tea", due to the color of the oxidized leaves when processed appropriately.
While green tea usually loses its flavor within a year, black tea retains its flavor for several years. For this reason, it has long been an article of trade, and compressed bricks of black tea even served as a form of de facto currency in Mongolia, Tibet and Siberia into the 19th century.
Varieties and names
Generally, unblended black teas are named after the region in which they are produced. Often, different regions are known for producing teas with characteristic flavors.| Region | Tea | Native name | Origin | Description |
| China | Congou | - | - | - |
| China | Congou | Tǎnyáng-gōngfu | Tanyang Village, Fu'an, Fujian Province | The king of the Fujian Artisan Red Teas. One of the three Famous Fujian Reds. |
| China | Congou | Zhènghé-gōngfu | Zhenghe County, Fujian Province | One of the three Famous Fujian Reds, with a slight honey flavor. |
| China | Congou | Báilín-gōngfu | Bailin Town, Fuding, Fujian Province | One of the three Famous Fujian Reds. |
| China | Lapsang souchong | Zhèngshān-xiǎozhǒng | Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province | Dried over burning pine, thereby developing a strong smoky flavor. |
| China | Lapsang souchong | Yínjùnméi | Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province | A higher grade version of Zhengshan xiaozhong |
| China | Lapsang souchong | Jīnjùnméi | Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province | One of the highest grade red teas in mainland China. |
| China | Keemun | Qímén-hóngchá | Qimen County, Anhui Province | One of China's Famous Teas. The aroma of tea is fruity, with hints of pine, dried plum and floweriness. |
| China | Dianhong | Yúnnán-hóngchá / diānhóng | Yunnan Province | Well known for dark malty teas and golden bud teas. |
| China | Yingdehong | Yīngdé-hóngchá | Yingde, Guangdong Province | The tea has a cocoa-like aroma and a sweet aftertaste, one can find a peppery note. |
| China | Jiu Qu Hong Mei | Jiǔqǔ-hóngméi | Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province | This tea is characterised by tight fishhook-like leaves with a lustrous black color. The infusion is brightly reddish and has a long smooth aftertaste. |
| Taiwan | Sun Moon Lake | Rìyuè-tán-hóngchá | Sun Moon Lake, Nantou City, Nantou County | Honey rich tones, sweet osmanthus, cinnamon and peppermint. |
| India | Assam | Ôxôm cah | Assam Sate | Full bodied, strong and distinctively malty tea from the lowlands of Assam. |
| India | Darjeeling | Dārjiliṁ cā | West Bengal State | Thin bodied, floral and fruity tea from Darjeeling with defining muscatel tones. Today often processed as a mixture of black, green and oolong elements, though still classed as black. |
| India | Kangra | Kāngada cāy | Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh State | It produces basil-cinnamon, java plum-blueberry blends and Chinese hybrids that is varied with others as a pale liquor, it has a subtle pungency with a vegetal aroma. |
| India | Munnar | Mūnnār cāya | Munnar Town, Idukki District, Kerala State | This variety produces a strong bodied golden yellow liquor with refreshing briskness and a hint of fruit. It has a medium toned fragrance, that is akin to malted biscuits. |
| India | Nilgiri | Nīlakiri tēnīr | Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu State | Intensely aromatic, strong, and fragrant tea from the Nilgiri Hills of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. |
| Korea | Jaekseol | jaekseol-cha | Hadong County, South Gyeongsang Province | Jaekseol tea is golden, light scarlet in color and has a sweet, clean taste. |
| Nepal | Nepali | Nēpālī ciyā | Similar to Darjeeling tea in its appearance, aroma and fruity taste, with subtle variation. | |
| Sri Lanka | Ceylon | Silōn tē | It is grown on numerous estates which vary in altitude and taste. High-grown tea is honey golden liquor and light and is considered to be among the best teas in terms of its distinct flavor, aroma, and strength. Low-grown teas are a burgundy brown liquor and stronger. Mid-grown teas are strong, rich and full-bodied. | |
| Turkey | Rize | Rize çayı | Rize, Rize Province, Black Sea Region | Characterised by its strong taste, when brewed it is mahogany in color. Traditionally served with beet sugar crystals. |
| Iran | Lahijan | Chaie | Lahijan, Gilan Province, Caspian Sea | Characterised by its strong taste and nice aroma, semi-long brewing time about 10-15 minutes, when brewed it is dark red in colour. Traditionally served with beet sugar crystals. |
Blends
Black tea is often blended and mixed with various other plants in order to obtain a beverage.| Blend | Description |
| Earl Grey tea | Black tea with bergamot oil. |
| English Breakfast tea | Full-bodied, robust, rich and blended to go well with milk and sugar. |
| English afternoon tea | Medium bodied, bright and refreshing. Strong Assam and Kenyan teas are blended with Ceylon which adds a light, brisk quality to the blend. |
| Irish breakfast tea | Blend of several black teas: most often Assam teas and, less often, other types of black tea. |
| Masala chai Indian spiced tea | Combines black tea, spices native to the Indian sub-continent, milk, and a sweetener such as sugar or honey; a beverage from India, possibly consumed for many centuries, in the Ancient kingdoms of the region, before the arrival of the Europeans. Though the possibility of a pre-colonial tea culture still remains disputed, one can argue without any doubt that the post-independence Masala chai has played a significant role in India's modern tea consumption culture, making it the largest tea consumer in the world. Masala chai has been widely recognised and adapted in the West by the locals to their liking since its introduction by the British East India company, with changes in the ingredients and the method of preparation more suited to western consumers. |
Manufacture
- After the harvest, the leaves are first withered by blowing air on them.
- Then black teas are processed in either of two ways, CTC or orthodox. The CTC method produces leaves of fannings or dust grades that are commonly used in tea bags but also produces higher grades such as BOP CTC and GFBOP CTC. This method is efficient and effective for producing a better quality product from medium and lower quality leaves of consistently dark color. Orthodox processing is done either by machines or by hand. Hand processing is used for high quality teas. While the methods employed in orthodox processing differ by tea type, this style of processing results in the high quality loose tea sought by many connoisseurs. The tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidize.
- ; Orthodox: The withered tea leaves are heavily rolled either by hand or mechanically through the use of a cylindrical rolling table or a rotovane. The rolling table consists of a ridged table-top moving in an eccentric manner to a large hopper of tea leaves, in which the leaves are pressed down onto the table-top. The process produces a mixture of whole and broken leaves and particles which are then sorted, oxidized and dried. The rotorvane, created by Ian McTear in 1957 can be used to replicate the orthodox process. The rotovane consisted of an auger pushing withered tea leaves through a vane cylinder which crushes and evenly cuts the leaves, however the process is more recently superseded by the boruah continuous roller, which consists of an oscillating conical roller around the inside of a ridged cylinder. The rotorvane can consistently duplicate broken orthodox processed black tea of even sized broken leaves, however it cannot produce whole leaf black tea. The broken leaves and particles from the orthodox method can feed into the CTC method for further processing into fanning or dust grade teas.
- ; "Cut, tear, curl" : A production method developed by William McKercher in 1930. It is considered by some as a significantly improved method of producing black tea through the mincing of withered tea leaves. The use of a rotovane to precut the withered tea is a common preprocessing method prior to feeding into the CTC. CTC machines then further shred the leaves from the rotovane by passing them through several stages of contra-rotating rotors with surface patterns that cut and tear the leaves to very fine particles.
- Next, the leaves are oxidized under controlled temperature and humidity. The level of oxidation determines the type of the tea; with fully oxidised becoming black tea, low oxidised becoming green tea, and partially oxidised making up the various levels of oolong tea. This can be done on the floor in batches or on a conveyor bed with air flow for proper oxidation and temperature control. Since oxidation begins at the rolling stage itself, the time between these stages is also a crucial factor in the quality of the tea; however, fast processing of the tea leaves through continuous methods can effectively make this a separate step. The oxidation has an important effect on the taste of the end product, but the amount of oxidation is not an indication of quality. Tea producers match oxidation levels to the teas they produce to give the desired end characteristics.
- Then the leaves are dried to arrest the oxidation process.
- Finally, the leaves are sorted into grades according to their sizes, usually with the use of sieves. The tea could be further sub-graded according to other criteria.
Tea grading
Black tea is usually graded on one of four scales of quality. Whole-leaf teas are the highest quality, with the best whole-leaf teas graded as "orange pekoe". After the whole-leaf teas, the scale degrades to broken leaves, fannings, then dusts. Whole-leaf teas are produced with little or no alteration to the tea leaf. This results in a finished product with a coarser texture than that of bagged teas. Whole-leaf teas are widely considered the most valuable, especially if they contain leaf tips. Broken leaves are commonly sold as medium-grade loose teas.Smaller broken varieties may be included in tea bags. Fannings are usually small particles of tea left over from the production of larger tea varieties, but are occasionally manufactured specifically for use in bagged teas. Dusts are the finest particles of tea left over from production of the above varieties, and are often used for tea bags with very fast and harsh brews. Fannings and dusts are useful in bagged teas because the greater surface area of the many particles allows for a fast, complete diffusion of the tea into the water. Fannings and dusts usually have a darker colour, lack of sweetness, and stronger flavor when brewed.
Brewing
Generally, of tea per of water. Unlike green teas, which turn bitter when brewed at higher temperatures, black tea should be steeped in water brought up to 90–95 °C. The first brew should be 60sec., the second brew 40sec., and the third brew 60sec. If the tea is of high quality, it may be brewed several times by progressively adding 10sec. to the brew time following the third infusion.; Standard black tea brewing
- Brew temperature 90–95 °C
- 200ml water
- 4g of tea
- : 60-40-60-70-80- seconds
The more delicate black teas, such as Darjeeling, should be steeped for 3 to 4 minutes. The same holds for broken leaf teas, which have more surface area and need less brewing time than whole leaves. Whole-leaf black teas, and black teas to be served with milk or lemon, should be steeped 4 to 5 minutes. Longer steeping times makes the tea bitter. When the tea has brewed long enough to suit the drinker's taste, it should be strained before serving.
The ISO Standard 3103 defines how to brew tea for tasting.
Research
Plain black tea without sweeteners or additives contains caffeine, but negligible quantities of calories or nutrients. Black teas from Camellia sinensis contain polyphenols, such as flavonoids, which are under preliminary research for their potential to affect blood pressure and blood lipids as risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but overall this research remains inconclusive.Long-term consumption of black tea only slightly lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Black tea consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of stroke, but there is only limited research to evaluate this possibility.
Meta-analyses of observational studies concluded that black tea consumption does not affect the development of oral cancers in Asian or Caucasian populations, esophageal cancer or prostate cancer in Asian populations, or lung cancer.