Black tea is a type of tea that oxidizes more than oolong tea, green tea, or white tea. All four of the teas mentioned above are made from the leaves of Camellia senensis. Black teas tend to have a brighter flavor and contain more caffeine than those types of tea that are less oxidized.
Two fundamentally different varieties of plants are used for production: the small-leaved Chinese tea plant (C. sinensis subsp. sinensis), which is also used to make green and white teas, and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. sinensis subsp. assamica), which is traditionally used only for making black tea, although more recently it has also been used to make green tea.
Black tea is the most popular type of tea in the west, accounting for over 90 % of all tea consumption. Black tea is a very common term, but there are many different varieties of black tea.
Varieties of black tea
Black tea is usually classified according to its origin. The most popular varieties of black tea:
Indian black tea:
Darjeeling
Tea that, when brewed, has a pronounced, natural taste and aroma, and the brewed leaves are very fragrant.
Assam
Chinese black tea:
Lapsang Souchong
Lapsan Souchong is a unique large-leaf tea grown in the Fujian province of China, which is distinguished by a light smoky aroma and taste.
Keemun
The only black tea that is in the top 10 Chinese teas. The Queen of England considers Keemun tea one of her favorite varieties. Keemun tea was made in 1875 in Keemun County, An Hu Province (Anshui Shen).
Yunnan, Dian Hong (Yunnan, Dian Hong)
Yunnan is a black tea commonly referred to as Dian Hong tea in China. Dian Hong literally translates as Red Yunnan because Dian is another name for the Yunnan province, which was called the Dian Kingdom in the Bronze Age but later annexed to the Han Empire. In China, what we call black tea is called "red" tea because the tea is reddish brown in color after brewing.
Ying de Hong
From Guangdong Province.
Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka
Other black tea producing areas include Vietnam, Nepal, Rize province in Turkey, and Nilgiri in India. Each region produces a unique black tea, and each region can also have a large number of tea varieties that differ in their characteristics. Poor quality teas are usually processed mechanically and are most often made into tea bags. High quality tea is handmade and is almost always sold for brewing.
How is black tea served?
Black tea has a bitter and astringent taste that can be mitigated with milk or sugar, which is why Black tea is most often served this way in Western countries. However, in China and other Asian countries, black tea is usually served plain. Other additions to black tea, besides milk and sugar, include lemon juice (which is commonly used for iced tea), herbs such as basil or mint. In some parts of the world, cardamom, cloves, and ginger are added to black tea.
The popularity of black tea
Black tea is the most common type of tea in Western countries. One reason for this is that black tea keeps better than green tea or oolong tea. Therefore, this type of tea was more convenient to transport in the early days of trade between Europe and Asia. Since more modern methods of transporting tea are now being used, allowing the transport of any variety, oolong tea and green tea are growing in popularity in Western countries.
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