Black tea

Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white, and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from leaves of the shrub (or small tree) Camellia sinensis, though Camellia taliensis is also rarely used.

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 is hong cha (Chinese: 紅茶, "red tea") due to the colour of the oxidized leaves when processed appropriately. Today, the drink is widespread throughout East and Southeast Asia, both in consumption and harvesting, including in China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Singapore. Similar variants are also available in South 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, and compressed bricks of black tea even served as a form of de facto currency in Mongolia, Tibet, and Siberia well into the 19th century. Black tea contains caffeine and flavonoids and may offer modest cardiovascular benefits and improved alertness, but lacks strong evidence for most therapeutic uses, including cancer and diabetes prevention.

Unblended black teas are often named after the region in which they are produced. Different regions are known for producing teas with characteristic flavours.

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.

The tea is then ready for packaging.

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.