The History of Black Tea

Since the birth of tea in China four thousand years ago, tea has evolved into numerous varieties and has become an integral part of the world’s culture.  In India, black tea leaves are classified according to different criteria, first on the list is the size of the leaf.  This determines if the leaf is a leaf or broken grades.  Leaf grades are those larger tea leaves.  They are rare because only about 20% of the produced tea will fall into this category.  Leaf grades also produce smoother, lighter and less strong brews.  Smaller and broken or powdered leaves are considered as broken grades.  These are the ones being used for the teabags.

Black tea as that of green tea comes from the tea plant Camellia sinensis.  The difference is that black tea comes from fully oxidized Camellia sinensis leaves.  The leaves are left to completely dry up and turn black.  Although called black, the color of the brewed black tea varies, it can range from reddish brown to black.  Difference in production method causes this variation in brewed color.  The leading materials in black tea processing are the young shoots, the terminal buds, and the two adjacent leaves of the tea plant.  These will then need to go through four stages:  withering, rolling, fermentation and drying.  This is how black tea is made.

          One unique characteristic of black tea is its ability to retain its flavor for several years.  Like wine, it matures with age and develops richer and more intense flavor.  Vintage black teas are very tough to come by thus would be expensive.  Unlike other teas, black tea is caked.  It comes in different shapes and sizes.  Sometimes it is pied, squared and even caked to look like bamboos. Did you know that in the 19th century stamped black tea even functioned as de facto currency in Siberia, Tibet and Mongolia?  Tea caking made it easy for traders to transport this commodity from place to place, making it a long time article of trade.  Drinking black tea in some regions of China has become tantamount with health.  Their saying even goes, “a man can do without food for three days, but not one day without tea”.

          So, why is the black tea really mysterious?  Its mystery lies in its history.  Although methods were outlined on how black tea is made, no one discussed black tea in depth.  Not even the Cha Jing or known as The Book of Tea authored by Lu Yu which he wrote in 780 mentioned the term “black tea”.

Black Tea Sampler