Are you interested in black tea? Do you like it? Do you want to know where it comes from? How it is produced? And what its traditional preparation looks like? Follow the trail of tea with us...

Origin of Black Tea

Black tea is the most popular tea in the western world. It is very popular in Great Britain, Russia and other European countries. If you think that black tea is historically popular in China, then you are mistaken. Until the middle of the 17th century the cradle of tea, China, only drunk green tea. The original pressed tea bricks remained fresh for a long time and were used as a means of payment in remote parts of the world.

During the Ming Dynasty, however, steamed and dried leaves stopped being pressed into bricks and the tea lost a lot of its quality on the long journey to Europe. Together with rising demand for tea, this led the producers there to look for the best way to store tea leaves. They found that the best method of conservation was fermentation of tea leaves, during which they obtained a copper colour, and they subsequently stopped this natural decomposition process by drying them in an oven. This gave rise to black tea, which we know today.

How is black tea obtained?

After harvesting the tea leaves are left to wither and rolled up. This interferes with the cell walls and chemical substances, which give the resulting solution its colour and taste. After being rolled, the leaves are laid out in a cool, humid room, where the polyphenols present are oxidised (this is a reaction similar to when an apple goes brown after being cut open). Drying, sorting and packaging follow.

Black Tea and Its Effects

Black tea sharpens the spirit, brightens the mind, softens the heart, facilitates understanding, prevents sleep and refreshes the body. It contains a large quantity of various substances that influence its aroma, flavour, colour and effect on the human organism. The best-known include caffeine (in tea also known as theine), tannins, which give tea its typical, slightly astringent and tart taste, vitamin B1, vitamin P, fluoride and some other minerals.

Black Tea and Its Preparation

In contrast to green tea, boiling water is poured onto black tea and the ratio is one teaspoon to 1.5dcl of water. Black tea is left to steep for two to five minutes. The length of steeping can influence the effects of black tea. If you steep black tea for 2-3 minutes, the tea leaves give off caffeine, which boosts brain activity, but does not burden the heart and blood circulation. Its effect fades slowly. If you let black tea steep for longer, tannins, which suppress the effects of caffeine, are released into the tea. It is, however, never recommended that black tea is left to steep for more than five minutes.