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Characteristics and types of black tea

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Characteristics and types of black tea

2021-04-22 17:35:01

Black tea leaves contain a variety of water-soluble chemical substances, including tea polyphenols, caffeine, sugars, amino acids, proteins, fruit acids, aromatic substances, etc. The soup color of black tea is bright red or orange-red because the catechins in tea are converted into theaflavins and thearubigens during the fermentation process. Theaflavin is yellow, and thearubin is red. Part of this pigment is soluble in water and forms a red tea soup after brewing, while a part is insoluble in water and accumulates in the leaves, making the ten mouthpieces red, forming a Red leaves of black tea in red soup.

The fresh leaves, which are the raw materials for the tea mouth, do not have many types of aroma components, but after processing, the types of aroma components are greatly increased. For example, the types of aroma components of green tea are twice that of fresh leaves, with 110 types of aroma components. And black tea contains 6 times the types of fresh leaves, and has 325 aroma components.

Tea leaves produce complex chemical changes during fermentation, which make tea produce many aromatic substances, among which the main components such as aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, esters, etc., all have fruity or floral aromas, so black tea often has such sweet aromas. Black tea with good texture should have a strong and pure aroma. For example, Lapsang Souchong black tea has the aroma of longan. Generally speaking, black tea from India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) is richer and more pungent, while Chinese black tea has a higher and sweeter fragrance. Therefore, Chinese people mainly drink black tea with clear drinks, while Westerners add sugar and milk to the tea. Makes the taste richer.

There are three main types of black tea: Souchong black tea, Gongfu black tea and broken black tea.

Souchong black tea: It is a kind of black tea unique to Fujian Province. The red soup leaves have the fragrance of pine smoke and tastes like longan soup. The one produced in Tongmu Village, Xingcun Town, Chong'an County, Fujian Province (now Wuyishan City) is called "Zhengshan Souchong", and the one produced in its adjacent area is called "Waishan Souchong". Lapsang Souchong has the best quality. Souchong black tea has a unique pine smoke fragrance, which is formed when pine wood is burned, smoked, and dried, and the tea leaves absorb a large amount of pine smoke.

Gongfu Black Tea: It evolved from Souchong Black Tea. The main producing areas are more than 10 provinces (regions) such as Anhui, Yunnan, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan. Among them, the famous "Qihong" produced in Qimen, Anhui, has a tight appearance and a fragrance similar to roses; the "Dian" produced in Yunnan has a plump appearance and a golden color with a bright red soup.

Broken black tea: it is the most consumed tea in the international market. It is made by withering and kneading tea leaves, using a machine to chop them into granular fragments, and then fermenting and drying them. It is called black broken tea because of its fine shape. Broken black tea is mainly produced in India and Sri Lanka. It is gradually imitated and developed after our country's black tea production technology was introduced to India and Sri Lanka.