About Black Tea
TEA comes from only ONE plant, that being the Camellia sinensis plant. Beverages made with anything else, like chamomile, mint, rosehips, are referred to as an infusion.
Black Tea (Fired Tea)
All our tea is handpicked where just "two leaves and a bud" are plucked (that being the youngest shoots on the bush). This is referred to as the orthodox tea plucking method. The tea is then withered over a set time period of time.
Withering is the first and most important step involved in tea processing. By this process plucked tea leaves are conditioned for subsequent steps in tea manufacturing.
Withering helps to soften the green leaves and facilitate expulsion of excess water from fresh leaves. Generally the water level in green tea leaf ranges between 74 to 83%. Proper withering helps in bringing down this to an acceptable level of around 70%. It makes the leaves rubbery or flaccid, a prerequisite for proper twisting and curling of the leaves.
Leaf Maceration or Orthodox Rolling Method then occurs where the various tea grades are created, either a whole leaf Pekoe, Broken Orange Pekoe, Flowery Fanning, Dust, etc...are all created in this part of the manufacture of tea.
Then the tea is dried (or fired). This method was created by the British so that the tea could withstand long journeys across the ocean.
The end product is a black tea.
Black Tea contains very unique properties that are beneficial to human health.
Polyphenols found in black tea include catechins, theaflavins, tannins, and flavonoids