Black Tea

The tea we call black is known in China as red tea (hong cha, 红茶) — after the colour of the liquor: amber-ruby, warm as a setting sun. It is a fully oxidised tea, and it was China that gave it to the world, from Wuyi’s Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong to Yunnan’s Dian Hong.

Taste and character

Chinese black tea is softer and sweeter than the familiar European cup: honey, baked bread, dried fruit and cocoa, with hardly any harsh astringency — which is why it is drunk without sugar or milk. Its dense malty base carries added flavours beautifully: lychee and rose with black tea are southern-Chinese classics.

In the Chinese tradition

Red tea is considered the warmest and homeliest of Chinese teas: it is offered to guests in the cold season, and in Guangdong it accompanies lychees and desserts. A fine irony: Europeans named it black after the dry leaf, the Chinese named it red after the liquor — and both, as usual, are right.

How to brew

Water at 90–95 °C, short steeps. Chinese black tea works both gongfu-style in small pours and in a big mug — it is stable and forgiving. It is also excellent iced.