Black Tea

About

Black Tea With fragrant aroma and thick taste Black tea originates the tea area of Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province. Its export volume tops all kinds of teas in China, occupying 50%. The dry tea and tea soup are both primarily red, so it is called red tea. But because the red tea was called "wu cha" when it was originally made, the tea was called "Black tea" rather than "red tea" in English. There are various kinds of black tea, and souchong black tea is the earliest. In addition, a unique culture of black tea is popular in other countries. The black tea in India and Sri Lanka introduced from China are also very famous. Methods and varieties differ considerably between the different producing regions, but process always involves four basic steps - withering, rolling, fermenting, and firing (or drying). For, the traditional "orthodox" method which produces larger particles of leaf, the plucked leaves are spread out to wither (in the shade for finer varieties) until limp enough to be rolled without splitting the surface of the leaf. At this stage, the leaves give out a fruity, almost apple-like odor. Next the withered leaf is rolled, in order to release the chemicals within the leaf that are essential to the final color and flavor. This is still done by hand in some factories, but most use Rotorvane machines to crush the leaf lightly. The rolled lumps of tea are then broken up and the leaf spread out in a cool, humid atmosphere for 3-4 hours to absorb oxygen, which causes a chemical change in the leaf particles and turns them from green to a coppery red. Finally, the oxidized (or fermented) leaf is fired in order to arrest the natural decomposition and, at this stage, the particles turn black and acquire their recognizable tea smell. Firing was traditionally carried out in large pans over open fires and this method is still used in some Chinese factories, but most producers now pass the tea through hot air tunnels or bake it in hot ovens. The CTC method (cut. tear, an