Black Tea Among the Six Major Tea Categories

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The Origin of Black Tea
According to historical records, around the late 16th century to the mid-17th century during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a military force passed through Tongmu Village in Xingcun Town, Mount Wuyi City, Fujian Province. The troops stationed themselves at a local tea factory, sleeping on the freshly picked green tea leaves. After their departure, the tea farmers found the leaves had fermented and turned red.

To mitigate the losses, the tea farmers hastily used local pine branches as fuel to dry the tea leaves. Unexpectedly, the resulting tea produced a red, bright infusion with a distinctive pine smoke aroma and a dried lychee fragrance, offering a rich and mellow taste that starkly differed from the prevailing green tea flavors of the time. This tea gained popularity in the region and was named "Little Red Tea" (later renamed "Zhengshan Xiaozhong" to distinguish it from other varieties).

The core process of black tea is fermentation, characterized by the absence of fixation. Instead, "rolling" is used to disrupt the cell structure, allowing tea polyphenols and polyphenol oxidase to fully interact. Under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, thorough enzymatic oxidation (with a fermentation degree exceeding 80%) occurs. Tea polyphenols are converted into theaflavins and thearubigins, resulting in the distinctive "reddish liquor and reddish leaves" as well as a sweet and mellow taste.

Representatives of black tea: Keemun Black Tea, Dian Hong, and Zhengshan Xiaozhong.