Black Tea
Wikipedia: Black_tea | Teaviews: black-teaLast Updated: Mar. 12, 2014
↑About Black Tea
Black tea is tea that has been fully oxidized (sometimes referred to as being "fermented" although it is not a true fermentation process). Both the leaves and brewed tea tend to have a dark color, although some black teas are golden or greenish in color. In Chinese, black tea is called hóngchá(紅茶), meaning red tea, although in English, red tea more often refers to rooibos, an herbal tea that is not made from the tea plant.Black tea also tends to contain more tannins, chemicals giving the tea its characteristic dark color. The tannins are actually a form of antioxidants, and are the chemicals that the catechins of green tea are transformed to when they undergo oxidation.
The most popular type of tea in the world
Black tea is the most popular and widespread type of tea in the world, and makes up the bulk of the world's tea production and consumption; outside of southeast Asia, an overwhelming majority of the tea produced and consumed is black tea. In many cultures, when people say tea, they are referring to black tea.Black tea is grown in many countries and comes in many styles and grades; it is hard to generalize about the flavor or aroma of black teas. Black tea is the only type of tea that is widely classified into grades of tea using a system of letters, like OP, FTGFOP, BOP, etc. It is a widespread assumption that black teas are stronger, more bitter, and more heavily caffeinated than green teas; this is not true: green teas can be quite bitter, and black teas can be mellow. The strength of tea depends both on how it is brewed and the style and grade of tea used.
Caffeine content of black teas, compared to other teas
The caffeine content also varies greatly from one tea to the next and depends on how the tea is brewed--and it is not safe to assume that black tea contains more caffeine than green or other types of tea. In general, black teas with more tips / leaf buds such as golden monkey are the most heavily-caffeinated of black teas, and souchongs, made out of larger leaves, are less caffeinated.Black teas used in English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast blends are usually deliberately chosen for their moderate-to-high caffeine content.

Brewing black tea
Brewing tea is a complex art and is also a matter of peronal taste. In general, black teas tend to taste best when brewed with boiling water. A rare exception to this rule are a few of the lightest black teas, like some Darjeeling first flush, a few of which produce better results when brewed with water slightly below the boiling point.The optimal steeping times of black teas vary widely; strong, broken-leaf black teas infuse quickly and often taste best with brief steeping times, sometimes only about 1 minute, whereas other teas may taste best if steeped as long as 5-8 minutes.
Storing black tea
Black tea typically stays fresh and retains its flavor longer than green or white teas. A typical black tea, properly stored in a dark, airtight container, can be stored for 2 years or more with little difference in flavor. Some more delicate black teas, however, like Darjeeling first flush, do not always store as well. See our article on storing tea for more info.↑Recent Black Tea Reviews — RSS 
China Black Organic (Yunnan) Black Tea from Simpson & Vail
Style: Yunnan Gold – Region: Yunnan, ChinaMay. 10th, 2022
Mild all around. Aroma is a weak Yunnan. Flavor is a mediocre Yunnan, with a slight burnt after taste. Liquor brews (5min) to a deep brown. Not impressed.
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The version I'm rating is from the "American" tin (packed in Greensboro, NC, but presumably shipped over in bulk to parse out for that purpose). It doesn't look appreciably different from the photo I uploaded off Twinings' website.
Dry aroma was surprisingly weak for an Irish Breakfast blend, but pleasant to the e...

This is another box of tea from iherb.com. I'd about given up on finding a decent decaf black tea, but I had a discount and so the price was right.
These are the loose, tagless tea bags typical of Ireland and the UK, containing 3g of tea each. The dry tea smells surprisingly strong for a decaf, but as others have no...

Balmoral Blend Tea Bags from Murchie's Tea & Coffee Ltd
Style: Black Tea – Region: BlendApr. 7th, 2022
This Ceylon/Assam blend is yet another in a long line of Murchie's teas paying tribute to British royalty in some way. According to the website: "Murchie's Balmoral Blend Tea was originally blended for York House School—a private school for girls which has been an institution in Vancouver for over 75 years. This b...
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When I ordered some herbs from iHerb.com, they had better prices for Barry's teas than I can get locally, so I bought a few varieties to try and this is one of them. My box says "Irish Breakfast," so that's where I'm putting the review, but it's otherwise the same green box as the "Original Blend" and I suspect they're...
Read Full ReviewRead More Reviews of Black Tea (1728) ...
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↑Most-Rated Black Tea

PG Tips Pyramid bags
Brand: | PG Tips |
Style: | Black Tea |
Region: | Blend |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Teabag |

Irish Breakfast
Brand: | Twinings |
Style: | Irish Breakfast |
Region: | ????? |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Teabag |

English Breakfast
Brand: | Twinings |
Style: | English Breakfast |
Region: | ????? |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Teabag |

Assam
Brand: | Two Leaves and a Bud |
Style: | Assam |
Region: | Assam, India |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Sachet |
↑Top-Rated Black Tea

Honey Black Tea
Brand: | Health & Tea |
Style: | Black Tea |
Region: | Taiwan / Formosa |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Loose |

Scottish Breakfast
Brand: | Murchie's Tea & Coffee Ltd |
Style: | Scottish Breakfast |
Region: | Blend |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Loose |

Hu-Kwa Tea
Brand: | Mark T. Wendell |
Style: | Lapsang Souchong |
Region: | Taiwan / Formosa |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Loose |

Keemun Full Leaf Tea
Brand: | Foojoy |
Style: | Keemun |
Region: | Anhui, China |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Loose |

Laoshan Black
Brand: | Verdant Tea |
Style: | Black Tea |
Region: | Shandong, China |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Leaf: | Loose |