What
is Black Tea?
Black
tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis
that have been processed a certain way. It is one of the four
types of teas (white, green,
oolong, and black).
Black
teas are the most consumed of the four types of teas. They
are the highest in caffeine, but still have antioxidant properties,
just not quite as much as others.
What
is Tea Processing?
Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It
is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall
character are created.
In
its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and
deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation)
should take place before drying them out. Tea leaves have
enzymes in their veins.
When
the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed
to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation
depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how
long.
The
Processing of Black Tea:
The processing of black tea requires a full oxidation of the
leaves. After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to
wither for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water
evaporate.
Then the leaves are rolled in order to crack up the surface
so that oxygen will react with the enzymes and begin the oxidation
process. The leaves are left to completely oxidize, thus turning
the leaves to a deep black color.
After
that, a final drying takes place. From there, it goes off
to be sorted, graded, and packaged.
My
Suggestions:
Pamper
yourself with a fine, limited production black tea Adagio
Teas!
If
you are new to fine quality teas, and would like to try a
few different examples, try this black tea sampler.
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