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Black Tea

Loose leaves of black tea.

Black Tea

Black tea (also called red tea) is a highly oxidized type of tea. It is higher oxidized than Oolong, yellow, white and green tea giving the leaves a dark color and the brew a strong flavor.

The tea has its origin in East and Southeast Asia, with both the variety sinensis and assamica being used to make it.

The western term black tea refers to the color of the oxidized leaves. Black tea is known as hong cha in Chinese which translates to red tea. It was named red tea because of the color of the liquid. Black tea should not be confused with dark tea which is a post-fermented tea called Hei Cha in Chinese which translates to black tea.

Styles

Assam tea is a black tea style from the Assam region of India and falls under the variety camellia sinensis assamica. It is known for its malty appearance and bold flavoring. This tea can be consumed on its own, or with milk and sugar. Most common brands use this tea in a blend with ceylon and keemun and/or kenyan teas to produce english breakfast and earl grey.

Ceylon tea is a broad range tea that can be sold as a black, white or green tea. This style was sourced from China, but is more commonly associated with Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) as it was developed and is now grown commercially there. It is refreshing and crisp in flavor, and can be infused with dried fruit such as apricot or mango. The black tea is most common, and it is often used in blends such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Sri Lankan Ceylon Silver Tips is considered the champagne of black tea and is heavily regulated within the country and beyond in its exports around the world.

Styles

Assam tea is a black tea style from the Assam region of India and falls under the variety camellia sinensis assamica. It is known for its malty appearance and bold flavoring. This tea can be consumed on its own, or with milk and sugar. Most common brands use this tea in a blend with ceylon and keemun and/or kenyan teas to produce english breakfast and earl grey.

Ceylon tea is a broad range tea that can be sold as a black, white or green tea. This style was sourced from China, but is more commonly associated with Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) as it was developed and is now grown commercially there. It is refreshing and crisp in flavor, and can be infused with dried fruit such as apricot or mango. The black tea is most common, and it is often used in blends such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Sri Lankan Ceylon Silver Tips is considered the champagne of black tea and is heavily regulated within the country and beyond in its exports around the world.

Table of Contents

Loose leaves of black tea.

Styles

Assam tea is a black tea style from the Assam region of India and falls under the variety camellia sinensis assamica. It is known for its malty appearance and bold flavoring. This tea can be consumed on its own, or with milk and sugar. Most common brands use this tea in a blend with ceylon and keemun and/or kenyan teas to produce english breakfast and earl grey.

Ceylon tea is a broad range tea that can be sold as a black, white or green tea. This style was sourced from China, but is more commonly associated with Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) as it was developed and is now grown commercially there. It is refreshing and crisp in flavor, and can be infused with dried fruit such as apricot or mango. The black tea is most common, and it is often used in blends such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Sri Lankan Ceylon Silver Tips is considered the champagne of black tea and is heavily regulated within the country and beyond in its exports around the world.

Styles

Assam tea is a black tea style from the Assam region of India and falls under the variety camellia sinensis assamica. It is known for its malty appearance and bold flavoring. This tea can be consumed on its own, or with milk and sugar. Most common brands use this tea in a blend with ceylon and keemun and/or kenyan teas to produce english breakfast and earl grey.

Ceylon tea is a broad range tea that can be sold as a black, white or green tea. This style was sourced from China, but is more commonly associated with Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) as it was developed and is now grown commercially there. It is refreshing and crisp in flavor, and can be infused with dried fruit such as apricot or mango. The black tea is most common, and it is often used in blends such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Sri Lankan Ceylon Silver Tips is considered the champagne of black tea and is heavily regulated within the country and beyond in its exports around the world.

Styles

Assam tea is a black tea style from the Assam region of India and falls under the variety camellia sinensis assamica. It is known for its malty appearance and bold flavoring. This tea can be consumed on its own, or with milk and sugar. Most common brands use this tea in a blend with ceylon and keemun and/or kenyan teas to produce english breakfast and earl grey.

Ceylon tea is a broad range tea that can be sold as a black, white or green tea. This style was sourced from China, but is more commonly associated with Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) as it was developed and is now grown commercially there. It is refreshing and crisp in flavor, and can be infused with dried fruit such as apricot or mango. The black tea is most common, and it is often used in blends such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Sri Lankan Ceylon Silver Tips is considered the champagne of black tea and is heavily regulated within the country and beyond in its exports around the world.

Production

Withering

After harvesting, the leaves are withered by blowing air on them.

Rolling

Teas are rolled and processed either with the orthodox method or with a method called Cut, tea, curl (CTC).

The orthodox processing is done by machines or manually, depending on the quality of the tea. It produces high-quality loose leaf teas that have been rolled by hand or mechanically with a cylindrical rolling table or rotovane.

The Cut, tear, curl (CTC) method produces fannings and dust leaf grades commonly used in tea bags, as well as higher broken leaf grades. The CTC method is an efficient and effective method to produce better quality tea from medium to low quality leaves. Leaves are crushed, cut into fragments and curled into very fine particles.

Oxidizing

Oxidation can take place over 6 hours resulting in heavily or fully oxidized leaves. It turns leaves dark and changes the flavor. It can be controlled by air flow, conveyor belts and temperature to produce the desired flavor.

Heating

Leaves are dried with heat to end the oxidation process.

Sorting

Leaves are typically sorted with sieves into grades (whole leaves, broken leaves, fannings, and dust).

Styles & Blends

Styles

Assam — A full bodied, strong and distinctively malty black tea from Assam in India.
Darjeeling — A thin bodied tea with fruity tones that are defined by notes of muscatel from Darjeeling, India.
Ceylon — A black tea from Sri Lanka, which is refreshing and crisp in flavor.
Lapsang Souchong — One of the highest grade black teas in China made by drying leaves over burning pine, which develops a strong smoky flavor.
Dian Hong — A black tea with dark malty notes and golden bud leaves from Yunnan, China.

Blends

English Breakfast — Blend of black teas originating from Assam, Ceylon and Kenya and usually drank with milk and sugar.
Earl Grey — Black tea flavored with bergamot oil. Traditionally made with Keemun tea, nowadays often made with Ceylon tea.

Further Reading

Continue learning with related articles

Loose leaves of black tea.

Assam tea is a black tea style from the Assam region of India and falls under the variety camellia sinensis assamica. It is known for its malty appearance and bold flavoring. This tea can be consumed on its own, or with milk and sugar. Most common brands use this tea in a blend with ceylon and keemun and/or kenyan teas to produce english breakfast and earl grey.

Loos leaves of Ceylon black tea in a white bowl.

Ceylon tea is a broad range tea that can be sold as a black, white or green tea. This style was sourced from China, but is more commonly associated with Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) as it was developed and is now grown commercially there. It is refreshing and crisp in flavor, and can be infused with dried fruit such as apricot or mango. The black tea is most common, and it is often used in blends such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Sri Lankan Ceylon Silver Tips is considered the champagne of black tea and is heavily regulated within the country and beyond in its exports around the world.

Loose leaves of green tea.

Green tea is a very lowly oxidized type of tea, unlike oolong and black teas which go through an oxidation process. Leaves of Camellia sinensis var. Sinensis are better suited for producing green tea than those from Camellia sinensis var. Assamica which are usually used to make black tea. Originating in China, production spread out into other areas of Eastern Asia. There are many styles of green tea that differ substantially in flavor, leaf look, and production process. Green tea is a type of tea with the highest antioxidant properties. There are many research studies on its health effects, but there is little evidence showing any effects on people's health.

Loose leaves of white tea.

White tea is one of the most recent tea types out there. It is the *least processed* tea type and has only been lightly oxidized. But just because of that, it does not necessarily mean that it is simple in taste. In fact, the processes it goes through are very meticulous and important for its taste development. Its production center is in China, especially in the *Fujian* province. In the last few years the production areas of white tea are increasing thanks to its gaining popularity.

Tie guan yin loose leaf oolong tea balls on bamboo basket

Oolong tea is a semi-oxidized type of tea ranging from approx. 10 to 80% oxidation. Being more oxidized than green tea and less oxidized than black tea it is often describes as an in-between type of tea. Due to the great range of oxidation, oolong teas have a widely varying flavor profile including sweet, fruity, honey, woody, thick, roasted, green and fresh notes. The leaves undergo the most complex production process of all tea types. It includes plucking opened buds, withering under the sun, bruising to start and heating to stop the oxidation, shaping into a strip or half-ball shape, drying and roasting. Originating in China, many oolong styles, especially ones from the Wuyi mountains, hold the Chinese famous tea title.

Tea leaves on a bamboo basket and in hands

Oxidation describes the process of enzymes in the tea leaves reacting with oxygen. During oxidation, leaves undergo changes in their chemical composition turning them brown and changing the flavor and aroma profile. Oxidation is an essential step in the processing of tea. Depending on the type of tea which is made, oxidation is either fully prevented or intentionally caused and stopped at a certain level. Whereas green, white and yellow teas are unoxidized or lightly oxidized, black teas are highly or fully oxidized. In between are oolong teas, which cover a wide range of oxidation levels from lightly oxidized to highly oxidized. The process of oxidation is intentionally caused by crushing, rolling or tumbling the leaves. Thereby the walls of the cells are damaged, exposing the inside of the leaves with oxygen, resulting in a series of chemical reactions. In order to stop the oxidation at a certain level, leaves have to be heated or dried. Heat denatures the enzymes responsible for oxidation.

Mengding huang cha yellow tea loose leaves in gaiwan

Yellow tea is a rare and expensive type of tea with a low oxidation. The processing is similar to that of a green tea but with an additional step of keeping the leaves in a hot environment. This leads to a more mellow taste and yellowish colored leaves. The tea is mainly produced in China and Korea.

Pu'er dark tea pressed leaves as tea cake

Dark tea is a microbially fermented type of tea. The fermentation continues several months to many years and the leaves are often pressed in cake or brick shapes. The most famous dark tea is Pu’er from Yunnan, China.