Enjoy Some Of The Best Black Tea Available In The UK!

Which Black Tea?

When answering this question, perhaps the first thing to consider is what exactly is black tea? Black tea is when plucked tea leaves are fully oxidised. But what does it mean to be 'fully oxidised'? Oxidisation is a process that occurs when the surface of the leaf breaks and oxygen in the air reacts with chemicals in the tea leaf, causing the leaf to turn brown. You will have seen the same oxidisation process happen when you break the skin of an apple. The apple turns brown.
Black tea is fully oxidised, meaning the whole leaf is left until it turns dark brown or black. During the oxidisation process, the chemical structure of the tea leaf changes and results in a higher amount of caffeine and the increased presence of theaflavins and thearubigins. The latter two components provide black tea with its characteristic colour and flavour. Theaflavins play a big part in the tea's bright red colour, astringency, briskness and brightness. Thearubigins are a reddish-brown substance and impact the strength, colour and how the tea feels in the mouth. Another name used to describe Theaflavins and Thearubigins is Tannins and is generally used to describe the astringency of black tea.

How tea descriptions help with taste.

So how does this help you find the best black tea to try? You will find descriptions of tea's astringency as you browse Jenier Tea's black teas. For example, Assam tea is renowned for brewing a strong cup of tea and as in the case of Behora FBOP, we describe the tea taste experience as " Delicious, astringent and malty with full-bodied flavour." Alternatively, when describing a Ceylon black tea such as Lovers Leap, we describe the tea taste experience as a "Medium body with astringent character and lively flavour." The two teas will taste very different as the Ceylon tea will not have the same depth of astringency and mouthfeel as the Assam tea.

How tea origins affect the taste of black tea.

As well as how tea is processed, where a tea bush is grown also affects how it will taste. Indeed some tea origins have very distinctive tastes, and perhaps one of the best black teas demonstrates this is Darjeeling Tea.
The area of Darjeeling in India is known as the world's rooftop. Tea estates such as Margaret's Hope grow tea at 6800ft above sea level. Darjeeling teas have a distinctive character known as 'muscatel', referring to the taste associated with Muscat grapes. Darjeeling black teas are light-bodied with a slight astringency which is more prevalent in teas plucked later in the season, known as 2nd Flush teas, such as Margaret's Hope TGFOP Darjeeling.

Adding natural flavours

Another distinctive aspect of how black teas can differ is where other natural flavouring processes occur during the black tea manufacture. One of the best black teas that demonstrate this is Lapsang Souchong. Originating from China, Lapsang Souchong is a full-bodied tea with a distinctive smokey flavour. After the tea leaves have been rolled and fully oxidised, they are hung over burning pine boughs to dry and, in the process, absorb the wonderful, smokey aroma from the fire.

Sampling Black Teas

We want you to enjoy Jenier teas and find the best black tea suitable to your taste. Whenever exploring new teas, why not buy samples first to try? We can ship up to 10 tea samples free anywhere in the UK, or if you're close to our store in Glasgow, you can come along to collect your order.

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Black Tea - Frequently Asked Questions

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