What is Black Tea??

Black tea (as described in Wikipedia) is a variety of tea that is more oxidized than the oolong, green, and white varieties. All four varieties are made from leaves of Camellia sinensis. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor and contains more caffeine than the less oxidized teas.

Two principal varieties of the species are used, the small-leaved Chinese variety plant, also used for green and white teas, and the large-leaved Assamese plant, which was traditionally used only for black tea, although in recent years some green has been produced. Green tea or black tea is extremely delicious.

 While green tea usually loses its flavor within a year, black tea retains its flavor for several years. Although green tea has recently seen a revival due to its purported health benefits, the benefits of black tea still accounts for over ninety percent of all tea sold in the West. Interestingly, while organic tea is of interest for modern health, the Chinese have been practicing the production of organic black tea for centuries.

Tea, after harvest, is withered with warm air; processed by machines or hand; oxidized (or fermented); dried to arrest the oxidation process and then sorted or sieved according to their sizes before the final packaging.  Smaller broken leaves may be sold for use in making black tea bags.  The finer the pieces and/or dust the faster it steeps and the stronger the brew.

Even though tea is soothing and relaxing, some prefer to have decaffeinated black tea.  In one method, called Direct, the tea is steamed and rinsed with ethyl acetate for several hours and then the solvent is rinsed away thoroughly.  Unfortunately this may remove a major part of the polyphenols that are so beneficial.  In another method, the leaves are left in a bath of carbon dioxide and run through water to rinse.  This method, CO2, leaves a majority of the polyphenols intact and does remove most of the caffeine in black tea.  There will always be a minute amount of caffeine in any decaf black tea.

 Tea is a wonderful beverage, no matter why you drink it.  Also, remember that tea makes a great refresher whether you like it hot or, in summer, a tall glass of iced black tea.