How is Black Tea Processed to Produce Bitterness?

Black tea comes from the same plant as other teas

Fresh leaves are picked and dried on flat trays for 13-16 hours

Leaves then are left to dry for about 1-2 hours--this fermentation is the most important step in producing black tea.

Leaves are roasted

The leaves turn completely brown at this stage

The leaves are then rolled into balls or needle-like shape

Final products have reddish black color.

How was the tea processed?

Black tea is fully oxidized tea. After being plucked, the leaves are withered.

The purpose of withering is to remove the water from the leaves. The leaves are spread out on thin racks. Those racks have lots of holes so the air can dry the leaves from both sides.

The leaves are left for 13-16 hours to dry. In places such as India, which have more humid climate, heat generators are used. But natural drying is still the best method.

In the next step of processing, tea leaves are then crushed and rolled to produce juices and essential oil.

The juices and the oil are important factors that contribute to the taste and the fragrance of black tea. The leaves are then rolled and twisted.

The more twisted the leaves, the more flavor the tea has.

Fermentation and color change

The next important step in processing is fermentation. The leaves are spread out on the floor for a couple of hours to oxidize. During this process, the color changes from green to dark red.

It's the oxidation that gives black tea its distinct color, flavor, and strength. The longer the leaves are oxidized - the bitter the tea will taste - the more caffeine it contains.

When the oxidation process is done, the leaves are dried using hot dryer. The purpose of this step is to kill the enzymes that are responsible for the oxidation of the leaves.

This drying process is greatly controlled to produce high-valued black tea. The temperature and the drying time must be just right so all the leaves can be dried evenly and still keep its taste . Over-dried leaves will give flat flavor. Under-dried leaves will rot very fast.

After dried, the leaves are roasted for 4-7 min. They are then dried again. The roasting and drying processes are repeated many times. The leaves gradually turn dark brown.

The leaves are then rolled into ball shape or needle-like shape. They go through some more roasting and drying to make sure the leaves are dried and stay in shape.

How the tea was graded?

When processing is done, the final products have somewhat reddish black color. The leaves are then selected according to their size. The size determines the tea grades.

Unlike green tea grades - which are backed up by quality? Black tea grades don't reflect quality or flavor of the tea, just the size of the leaves.

But observations give that it's easier to check the quality of the bigger leaves. Thus, large-leaf tea might be viewed as having a bit more value than small-leaf tea.

The 2 major grades are leaf grades and broken grades. There are several common grades in the market today like Orange Pekoe, Broken Orange Pekoe, Fannings, and Dust.