Camellia sinensis: Black Tea
Black tea is one of the best known types of tea. The oxidation process during production creates the reddish-brown color of the finished leaves and of the tea in the cup. It develops a sweetness and removes the tendency toward astringency like green tea.
Cha Gao – Traditional Instant Tea
I’ve tried a broad range of tea types in the past but never cha gao – traditional instant tea.
What Does it Mean for a Tea to be Brisk?
What does briskness in tea mean? To me it means bright in flavor and character or else astringent.
Celebrating Black Tea Friday 2021
I am shamelessly subverting the commercialization of Black Friday, calling it Black TEA Friday. Please join me in celebrating Black Tea Today.
Tuesdays With Norwood, Re-Steeped: The Black Tea Ritual
We're going back into the archives to revisit these classic posts by James Norwood Pratt. This post includes "The Black Tea Ritual" - Parts 1 and 2. We have added a link to the end of each one to take you to the next if you would like to read them as a sequence, or...
Phongsaly Laos Sheng and Black Tea Reviews – Part 2
Continued from Phongsaly Laos Sheng and Black Tea Reviews – Part 1 400-year-old-plant sheng: There’s a nice citrusy front-end note, with depth and complexity beyond that. The tea is very pleasant. The citrus is in between lemon and grapefruit but paired with notable...
Phongsaly Laos Sheng and Black Tea Reviews – Part 1
I never post reviews to T Ching, but of course that’s a lot of what I write about in my blog (Tea in the Ancient World). I’m converting a review of a black tea and sheng from old-plant sources in Laos (from this vendor) into a short version for a post, based on this...
Tuesdays With Norwood, Re-Steeped: Chinese Black, Keemun, & Yunnan
We’re going back into the archives to revisit these classic posts by James Norwood Pratt. This post includes “China Black”, “Keemun – Splendor of Flavor and Perfume”, and “Yunnan – Among the Grandest of the World’s Black Teas”. We have added a link to the end of each...
Review: Teasup Black Teas
I was very excited to receive teas to review from the UK-based company Teasup. They sent me three black teas to review: A Malawian First Flush and Malawian Smoked Guava from the Satemwa Tea Estate, and a Ceylon High-Grown Seasonal from the Aislaby Tea Estate. When my...
Tuesdays With Norwood, Re-Steeped: Black Tea Takes Over & Sir Tea
We're going back into the archives to revisit these classic posts by James Norwood Pratt. This post includes two different two-part sequences: "Black Tea Takes Over" and "Sir Tea". We have added a link to the end of each one to take you to the next if you would like...
Lapsang Souchong Star – Black Tea
Bare your blissful darkness, a dance, wisps of smoke reveal, satisfaction weaves taste buds of time, craving moments alone – a smokey kiss, embers sparkle in the night. Lapsang Souchong from the Wuyi mountains of Fujian province, China, is a twisted-leaf black tea...
Black tea for dark times – and caramel, too
In the part of the country where I live, drought country, we are now in full winter rainy day mode. It’s a time when I hanker for the deep dark robust teas of India---rich malty Assams, forgiving Nilgiris, even the CTC teas that vaunted tea connoisseurs might spurn. I...
Taiwan’s Black Tea Renaissance
Black tea production in Taiwan has always been a tremendous part of its tea culture. Although it shadows oolong tea, black tea has made some amazing strides as more farmers, in different growing regions, make it their mission to experiment and process it on an annual...
What’s That Black Thing in Your Water?
To make most tea, it takes two things: leaves and water. While everyone goes on and on about the leaves, a lot of folks don’t give a second thought to the water they are using. Sure, you can grab some Brita filtered water and feel that is good enough, but if you want...
Cold Weather Tea Habits
As the weather finally starts to get cooler down here in Central Florida, I have noticed my tea drinking habits start to change. In these colder months, I'm drinking tea in my usual gongfu style less and less and slowly moving more towards western style brewing. I...
Dunkin’ Donuts’ Tea Upgrade
I'm a penny pincher. I don't wear that moniker with pride by any means, but I will say that I am a sucker for a sale. So when the Dunkin' Donuts app on my phone informed me I could get a hot tea for a dollar, I used it as an opportunity to try their new "Premium Hot...
Not always a matter of black or white
Though I am a purist when it comes to my tea, there are times when the thought of adding milk to my cup has occurred to me. It has been posited that doing so may reduce the antioxidant effect of drinking tea, but that is not…
“Black tea, please, because I need more caffeine”
At the California Tea and Coffee Brewery, we hear “need caffeine / want black tea” regularly. Many people have been told that black tea has more caffeine by another tea place or a coffee and tea place…