Black tea is probably one of, if not the best known type of tea. It can be found under many different names such as Keemun, Darjeeling, Yunnan, Russian Caravan, Earl Grey, Assam, English Breakfast .. the list can go on and on.
Black tea is a robust, strong and fulfilling type of tea. But, it's also comforting and has delicate qualities too, such as found in Darjeeling tea. It's also particularly versatile and due to it's hardy qualities, it's a bit easier to prepare, in comparison to white and green tea which can go bitter and take on a dull, flat flavour if over brewed.
Here is a little run down on (possibly!) the nation's favourite tea!
Origins
Black tea is produced in China, India, Napal, Sri Lanka and a small amount from Taiwan. Black tea often comes under different names, quite often, especially in China, the tea is named after the region, with different region's producing tea's with vastly different qualities.
How is it processed?
After the tea is harvested, hot air is blown onto the tea leaves to wither them. Then it can go through one of two processes.
CTC: CTC stands for "crush, tea, curl" or "cut, tear, curl". This is a system where the tea leaves are cut first.They are then fed into the CTC machine where a further processes of cutting and tearing occurs. The tea will finish up as very fine particles. This tea is mostly used in teabags.
Orthodox: Tea that is produced via the orthodox method are rolled, whether this is done by hand or by machinery. The tea is pressed down and rotated so chemicals are released from the cell's in the leaf. The highest quality tea is considered to be rolled by hand. Tea produced in the orthodox manner is used for high quality loose leaf tea.
Next, the tea is oxidized (or fermented). If a tea is fully oxidized it's considered a black tea, low oxidized is green tea. Oolong is a tea that has various levels of oxidization. Oxidization is done under strict temperature and humidity conditions. However, oxidization starts the minute the tea is rolled and the amount of oxidization affects the taste of the tea, and many tea producers will alter the oxidization time to produce tea's with certain characteristics. The leaves are then dried and then the tea is sorted into grades using a sieve.
How to prepare black tea
Unlike green and white tea, black tea is best made with freshly boiled water. Most black tea's can be steeped for four to five minutes, the more delicate of the black tea's such as darjeeling should be steeped for three to four minutes.
How to take black tea
Of course, this is down to personal taste. Black tea can be taken with milk and sugar to make a "builders brew" type of black tea. Chai, a black tea with added spices or Christmas tea's, that include cinnamon and clove are perfect candidates to be made milky and with lots of sugar.
However, if you like your black tea lighter it can be made by added a slice of lemon. For a change I've even added lime!
I like to take my black tea unsweetened and without milk as I love to really taste the tea!
What does black tea look like when fully infused?
Black tea can take on many different shades. It can range from a very dark black, almost ebony coloured, to red and copper tones to shades of amber and honey. It's a pretty tea.
And the flavour?
Black tea can take on many different flavours. For instance you have Yunnan that has nutty elements to the taste. Keemun can be chocolatey. Assam is strong and malty. Lapsang Souchong is smoked over pine and has a very strong and obviously smoky taste. I have just recently tried a Keemun Mao Feng that is very strong and to me has almost coffee like qualities. There is a broad spectrum of flavours so there isn't just one black tea flavour. There are many!
Additonal extra's
Black tea sits well with fruity flavours such as lemon and orange. I've also tried mandarin black tea which is gorgeous, apple tea which had a zingy taste and strawberry tea. I'm planning to try passion fruit too. It sit's less well with flavours such as peach or pomegrante.
Floral flavours, such as rose, lavender, orange blossom and jasmine are the perfect partners to black tea. They can add a feminine touch to the tea whilst still retaining the strength you expect from black tea.
Christmas tea's are also good but do take a bit of caution with some Christmas blends as these typically contain a lot of clove's and so I'd advise that Christmas tea's are taken with milk. In fact these tea's are made for milk and sugar - they make a wonderful winter treat.
Laura's favourites
I have many favourites. Here are just a few!
Northern Tea Merchants
Keemun Mao Feng
Yunnan
Keemun
Mandarin Black Tea
Russian Caravan
Russian Caravan
Teavivre's Lapsang Souchong
Twinings Rose Garden
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