Flavored Black Tea

For many decades now, extensive research has been done over tea – whether flavored black tea, oolong, green, or white tea. And those same research studies have confirmed that there are many health benefits associated with drinking green tea and its fermented cousin, flavored black tea. Now, more than ever, people have come to realize that flavored black tea is more than just delicious tea, but something that has the potential to be a dietary regular as well.

Classic and endearing, the great thing about black tea is that it undergoes full oxidation (commonly called “fermentation”), and because of that, they are richer in color, flavor, and are higher in caffeine than any other tea. They are also aromatic and spicy, truly appealing to your taste buds with its distinctive scent and flavor. Because of this, they are considered as the most popular teas out of all Asian tea types.

Black tea comes from the same plant, called Camellia sinensis, as green tea. The only difference between the two is how the leaves of the plant were processed. While black tea is first withered, rolled, fermented, then dried, green tea is merely mildly steamed, which accounts for its delicate taste and its rich antioxidant content.

However, if you want tea that really gives your palate a nudge, flavored black teas are a unique choice. Not only that, but like green and white tea, flavored black tea also contains valuable antioxidants and other beneficial properties.

Similar to wine (which is another product of fermentation), flavored black tea gets better with age. After drying and fermentation, the leaves of black tea are usually packed together into different shapes and sizes. To preserve their flavor, they are placed in a dry and well-ventilated area. Flavored black teas are not particularly choosy when it comes to temperature, so for as long as the storage place has good ventilation, then you shouldn’t worry about temperature when storing black tea.

Black tea drank alone can be quite intriguing. Depending on the region where your black tea comes from, the taste could range from very strong to fruity.

Souchong black tea from Wuyi mountain city in Fujian province, China, has a pine-smoking fragrance that is much different than any other black teas of the world. According to different producing area, Souchong black tea can be further classified into three types: Tongmugaun Souchong produced in Tongmugaun county, Lapsang Souchong produced in Chong’An, Jianyang, Guangzhe, and Xingchun Souchong, produced in other areas around Xinchun town of Chong’An county.

Another black tea type is Congou black tea which actually evolved from Souchong black tea. This type of black tea is quite famous and includes the following: Qihong of Anhui (Keemun black), Dianhong of Yunnan, Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanhong of Sichuan and Huhong of Hunan.

The third type of black tea is called broken black tea or graded black tea. It can be whole leaf black (short strip shape), broken leaf back (with small grain shape), Fannings black (with small slice shape) and dust black (with powdered shape).

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