To most of the people in Asia, the English name of black tea is like a riddle. Why? The reason is simple. The translation of the word is not straightforward. Many people will be confused between black tea, red tea and dark tea. In fact, there are several names for black tea. The other names are English Tea and Breakfast Tea. In Britain, English breakfast tea is a black tea which is prepared in light of a typical mix of different black tea leaf.
There are many countries of black tea production, including India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia and other places. Usually a cup of black tea with a mellow taste is made by mixing several kinds of black tea leaves, taking the advantages of various types of tea leaves.
Black tea is fully fermented tea. Tea leaves and its tea soup, like its name, is kind of reddish black. Black tea has a mellow and sweet taste. Black tea from China can be classified into three categories according to the different production methods, Gongfu tea, broken black tea and Souchong Gongfu tea. The main varieties are “Qimen Black Tea”, “Chuanhong”, “Dianhong”, “Yunnan Black Tea”, “Guangdong Yingde Black Tea”, “Bailin Gongfu”, “Zhenghe Gongfu”, “Tanyang Gongfu” and so on. On the other hand, the classification of Western-style black tea is based on the variety and size of the tea leaves. The main reason is that the tea aroma and color of the tea leaves are different from relatively big tea leaves, medium tea and small tea that is as small as handful of powders. Therefore, the taste and texture of black tea can be made by mixing different proportions of black tea leaves.
In southern China, when we choose tea, we usually consider the name of tea leaves and the planting place. The Zhengshan Souchong black tea is mainly produced in the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian Province. There is another interesting black tea, namely “lychee black tea”, which come from Guangdong. The tea leaves are black but tea becomes red after we pour the hot water into the leaves. Everyone calls it as lychee black tea, mainly because its aroma has a lychee fragrance. The tea brings the refreshing feeling and sweet flavour. The color of tea itself is red. One more black tea that quite impresses people is , Yingde Jinhao Tea. The golden color of Yingde Jinhao tea is very special and the leaves has a rose scent
When you take a sip, the rose aroma will fill fully in your mouth. The tea taste is very mellow. Taiwan is also famous for black tea leaves. It is “Sun Moon Lake Black Tea”, which is from Nantou County in Taiwan. The bottom of the leaves is red. The tastes is very nice with rich aroma.
Black tea is also very popular in Europe. Usually, black tea is classified by the country of origin and variety of tea size. However, when we choose the it, we will consider the brand and the tea grading in the package. It is generally sold to consumers in small tea bags and boxes of tea bags. Even so, the taste of tea leaves will not be inferior. Whether a cup of tea is mellow or not depends on the tea leaves itself, instead of the presentation format.
No matter from east to west, north to south, Asia or Europe, you may sell the aroma of classic black tea.
Note: Image by Tima Miroshnichenko, Paul Abel and Diana Light
