Black Tea

Black tea (红茶) Black tea is made from leaves of the shrub (or small tree) Camellia sinensis. Two principal varieties of the species are used to make black tea – the small-leaved variety plant (Camellia sinensis), and the large-leaved plant (Camellia sinensis var. asemia). It is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white, green and raw pu-er teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor than other teas. In China, where black tea was developed, it is called 紅茶 "red tea", due to the color of the oxidized leaves when processed appropriately. While green tea usually loses its flavor within a year, black tea retains its flavor for several years. For this reason, it has long been an popular item of trade from China. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 BC), Lapsang Souchong was produced in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province as the originator of black tea. In 1610, the Dutch transported Souchong black tea to Europe through an Indonesian colony, and thus started the western black tea culture.