Black Tea
Black Camellia sinensis is a variety of tea
leaf that is more oxidized than the oolong, green, and white
assortments. All four varieties are made from leaves of
Camellia sinensis. Black tea is generally sharper in flavor and
contains more caffeine than the less oxidized teas. Two
principal varieties of the species are used, the small-leaved
Chinese variety plant, also used for green and white teas, and
the large-leaved Assamese flora, which was traditionally only
utilized for black tea leaf, although in brand-new years some
green has been produced.
While green tea leaf usually drops off its flavor within a
year, black Camellia sinensis retains its flavour for several
years. For this reason, it has long been an article of barter,
and flat bricks of black tea leaf even served as a kind of de
facto currency in Mongolia, Tibet, and Siberia into the 19th
century. It was known since the Tang Dynasty that black tea
leaf steeped in hot H2O could also serve as a fine cloth dye
for the lower classes that could not afford the better quality
dressing colours of the time. The tea primitively imported to
Europe was either green or semi-oxidized. Only in the 19th
century did black tea outdo green in popularity. Although green
Camellia sinensis has recently seen a revitalization due to its
purposed health gains, black tea still answers for for over
ninety percent of all tea leaf sold in the West.
The expression "black Camellia sinensis" is also used to
describe a cup of tea leaf without milk, akin to coffee served
without milk or cream.
In Chinese and Chinese influenced oral communications, black
Camellia sinensis is known as "crimson tea", perhaps a more
exact description of the color of the fluid. The name black
Camellia sinensis, however, could alternatively refer to the
colour of the oxidized leafages. In Chinese, "black Camellia
sinensis" is a ordinarily used compartmentalization for
post-fermented Camellia sinensis, such as Pu-erh Camellia
sinensis. However, in the Western world, "red Camellia
sinensis" more commonly refers to rooibos, a South African
tisane.
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