First up, we now have black tea, a spread you might be absolutely accustomed to. Black tea encompasses flavors like Darjeeling, English Breakfast Tea, and Earl Grey, in accordance with Revolution Tea, and is the type of tea you typically see out-and-about in brunch locations, in many individuals’s kitchen cupboards, and in grocery shops because the “basic” tea sort. As defined by Artful Tea, black tea is thought for being greater in caffeine than different tea varieties, however nonetheless solely comprises half of espresso’s caffeine content material. As per Food & Wine, this makes it good jolt of power you’ll be able to sip on all through the early afternoon with out leaping off partitions. Black tea would not really present up pitch-black in your mug, however remains to be a darkish, burnt-orange shade, and tastes stronger than different varieties.
So, how does the camellia sinensis, or tea leaf plant, remodel into black tea? Totally different from different varieties (and we’ll get to these quickly), black tea comes about by permitting the fresh-picked camellia sinensis leaves to oxidize all the way in which, letting oxygen work its magic. As soon as the leaves are utterly oxidized, they’re dried out, crushed, and rolled, making it have a robust “malty” taste. Whereas this course of makes black tea have fewer antioxidants than different sorts akin to inexperienced tea, black tea is definitely simpler to digest for some folks due to the oxidation. Furthermore, the potent taste makes it an ideal pairing for milk, cream, honey, and sugar.