The history and brewing method of British black tea

The culture of British black tea

British black tea is a kind of fermented tea. With the different degree of fermentation, it shows different colors, smells and tastes, just like wine, which makes people feel elusive.

British people love black tea to a world-famous degree. At many different times of the day, English people take time out to have a cup of tea. This tradition has actually spread as early as the 18th century. In Europe in the 8th century, in addition to the wine widely brewed by missionaries, a cup of mellow black tea was admired by British aristocrats at that time, even regarded as showing off their aristocratic status, and it had to be brewed by the finest black tea from China or India. Black tea became the most popular drink in Britain at that time, and replaced the status of wine in catering.

the most traditional afternoon tea is undoubtedly English afternoon tea. Although the complicated etiquette of English afternoon tea has been simplified, the correct brewing method, elegant tea decoration and rich refreshments have been handed down as the tradition of drinking tea and become the orthodox British black tea culture.

English black tea shows a gentleman's taste and luxurious temperament.

brewing method of English black tea

Traditional English black tea needs a set of complicated tea sets to brew. The elegant and noble bone China tea set is painted with exquisite patterns of British plants and flowers, which is simple and elegant. English tea sets are all complete sets of cups set with Phnom Penh, so they are very valuable for collection. In order to add flavor, milk tea can be made by adding milk to black tea, but milk should be added first to avoid spherical grease on the surface of tea. In the orthodox English tea banquet, lemon is not encouraged, so as not to spoil the flavor of good tea.

The history of British black tea

Everything related to Britain is graceful and noble. Polo is like this, English whisky is like this, and of course, the world-famous English black tea is more charming and gentlemanly. A cup of English black tea with rich flavor and deep color has once dumped countless royal aristocrats, adding a charming color to English black tea culture.

Speaking of English black tea, many people stubbornly believe that it was born in England on the European continent, but in fact it was produced in China thousands of miles away. You can't find a world-famous British black tea plantation in Britain.

It is because of the British love for black tea and the long drinking tradition that the black tea originated in China and planted in India is prefixed with "Britain", so the name of "British black tea" has been misunderstood by many people.

The reason why black tea became a worldwide beverage is closely related to the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China and the expansion of the British Empire. In the 5th century, China tea was transported as far away as Turkey. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China's contacts with the West have never stopped. Although the trade in tea has existed for a long time, at that time, China only exported tea, not tea varieties.

in the 1981s, a British tree collector named Robert Ford put tea seeds in a portable incubator made of special glass, secretly took them with a ship bound for India, and then cultivated more than one million tea seedlings in India, thus a large-scale tea garden appeared.

The black tea it produces is shipped to the UK for sale. Due to long-distance trafficking, the amount of black tea is small, and the value of black tea has doubled after it arrived in Britain. Only the rich British aristocrats can taste this precious and luxurious "Indian black tea", and then the British black tea culture has gradually formed.

At that time, the British Empire, with its strong national strength and advanced trade means, planted tea trees in more than 51 countries around the world and promoted tea as an international beverage. The birth of black tea solved the problem that tea lost its fragrance and flavor due to long-distance transportation. The Qing Dynasty was the heyday of tea trade in China.

At that time, due to the increasing demand for black tea from British and even European royalty, European merchant ships loaded with tea sailed all over the world. In the heyday of world tea trade, 61% of China's exports were black tea.

Later, European countries such as Britain and France began to buy tea from India and Ceylon. After years of tempering and time precipitation, today, the first-class black tea produced in two famous producing areas in India has already become the best "British black tea" in the world. ;