Black tea (also literally translated asred tea from variousEast Asian languages) is a type oftea that is moreoxidized thanoolong,yellow,white, andgreen teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from leaves of theshrub (or small tree)Camellia sinensis, thoughCamellia taliensis is also rarely used.[2]
Two principal varieties of the species are used – the small-leaved Chinese variety plant (C. sinensis var.sinensis), used for most other types of teas, and the large-leaved Assamese plant (C. sinensis var.assamica), which was traditionally mainly used for black tea, although in recent years some green and white teas have been produced.
First originating in China, the beverage's name there ishong cha (Chinese:紅茶, "red tea") due to the colour of the oxidized leaves when processed appropriately.[1]: 127 Today, the drink is widespread throughoutEast andSoutheast Asia, both in consumption and harvesting, including in China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.[3] Similar variants are also available inSouth Asian countries.
While green tea usually loses its flavour within a year, black tea retains its flavour for several years. For this reason, it has long been an article of trade, andcompressed bricks of black tea even served as a form ofde facto currency inMongolia,Tibet, andSiberia well into the 19th century.[4]
Unblended black teas are often named after the region in which they are produced. Different regions are known for producing teas with characteristic flavours.
This tea is characterised by tight fishhook-like leaves with a lustrous black colour. The infusion is brightly reddish and has a long smooth aftertaste.
Thin-bodied, floral, and fruity tea fromDarjeeling[5][better source needed] with definingmuscatel tones. Today often processed as a mixture of black, green and oolong elements, though still classed as black.
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.
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.[6][better source needed]
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 flavour, aroma, and strength. Low-grown teas are a burgundy brown liquor and stronger. Mid-grown teas are strong, rich, and full-bodied.
Characterised by its strong taste and nice aroma, it is dark red in colour when brewed for ten to fifteen minutes, as is usual. Traditionally served with sugar crystals.
Many finished black teas consist of blends of various varieties of black tea. In addition, black tea is often blended with various other plants or flavourings in order to obtain a beverage.
Black tea withbergamot oil, lemon peel, orange peel, and sometimes cornflower petals.[9][better source needed] Since Lady Grey is a registered trademark of the company Twinings, other brands have used similar names such as Madame Grey, Duchess Grey or Empress Grey.
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.[10][better source needed]
Masala chai has been widely recognised and adapted in the West by locals to their liking since its introduction by the British East India company, with changes in ingredients and the method of preparation to better suit western consumers.
After the harvest, the leaves are firstwithered by blowing air on them.
Then black teas are processed in either of two ways,CTC (crush, tear, curl) ororthodox. The CTC method produces leaves of fannings or dust grades that are commonly used intea bags but also produces higher (broken leaf) grades such as BOP CTC and GFBOP CTC (see gradings below for more details). 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.[11]
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 (rotovane), created by Ian McTear in 1957 can be used to replicate the orthodox process.[11] The rotovane consisted of anauger 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.[11] The rotorvane can consistently duplicate broken orthodox processed black tea of even sized broken leaves, however it cannot produce whole leaf black tea.[1]: 90–93 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 (or crush), tear, curl" (CTC)
A production method developed by William McKercher in 1930. It is considered by some[who?] as a significantly improved method of producing black tea through the mincing of withered tea leaves.[12] The use of a rotovane to precut the withered tea is a common preprocessing method prior to feeding into the CTC.[11] 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.[11]
Next, the leaves areoxidized under controlledtemperature andhumidity. (This process is also called "fermentation", which is a misnomer since no actualfermentation takes place.Polyphenol oxidase is the enzyme active in the process.) The level of oxidation determines the type (or "color") 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.[13][better source needed] 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 aredried to arrest the oxidation process.
Finally, the leaves aresorted intogrades according to their sizes (whole leaf, brokens, fannings and dust), usually with the use of sieves. The tea could be furthersub-graded according to other criteria.
Black tea gradingFresh tea leaves of different sizes
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 flavour when brewed.
Generally, one uses 0.08 ounces (2.26 g) of tea per 8 US fl oz (237 ml) of water.[14][better source needed] Unlike green teas, which turn bitter when brewed at higher temperatures, black tea should be steeped in water brought up to 212 °F (100 °C) for 3–5min.[15][better source needed]
Whole-leaf black teas, and black teas to be served with milk or lemon, should be steeped four to five minutes.[16] The more delicate black teas, such as Darjeeling, should be steeped for three to four minutes. The same holds for broken leaf teas, which have more surface area and need less brewing time than whole leaves. Longer steeping times makes the tea bitter (at this point, it is referred to as being "stewed" in the UK). When the tea has brewed long enough to suit the drinker's taste, it should be strained before it is served.
A cold vessel lowers the steep temperature; to avoid this, the brewing vessel is rinsed with water at a temperature of at least 90 °C (194 °F) before brewing.
TheISO Standard 3103 defines how to brew tea for sensory testing.[17] This standard is not meant to define the proper method for brewing tea intended for general consumption, but rather to document a tea brewing procedure where meaningful sensory comparisons can be made.[citation needed] This mix is thus more than twice as concentrated for normal consumption.
Black tea contains 2 to 4 percentcaffeine.[18] The caffeine content of tea is affected by factors such as processing and brewing time. Typically, an 8-US-fluid-ounce (240 mL) cup of black tea without sweeteners or additives contains 47 mg of caffeine, and negligible quantities ofcalories andmicronutrients.[19][20]
^abcHeiss, Mary Lou; Heiss, Robert J. (2007).The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide. Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press.ISBN978-1-5800-8745-2.
^Wang W, Yang Y, Zhang W, Wu W (April 2014). "Association of tea consumption and the risk of oral cancer: a meta-analysis".Oral Oncol (Meta-Analysis).50 (4):276–81.doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2013.12.014.PMID24389399.
^Zheng J, Yang B, Huang T, Yu Y, Yang J, Li D (June 2011). "Green tea and black tea consumption and prostate cancer risk: an exploratory meta-analysis of observational studies".Nutr Cancer (Meta-Analysis).63 (5):663–72.doi:10.1080/01635581.2011.570895.PMID21667398.S2CID21567675.
