Black tea
Also known as: black tea, red tea (hong cha), breakfast tea, builder's tea, English breakfast
Black tea is made from fully oxidised Camellia sinensis leaf, giving an orange-red to red-brown liquor; in China the same tea is called red tea, hong cha.
Black tea (breakfast tea; called red tea, hong cha, in China) is made from fully oxidised Camellia sinensis leaf. Oxidation darkens the leaf and turns the liquor orange-red to red-brown. According to FAO, the world produced 3.58 million tonnes of black tea in 2022, more than any other type.
The raw material is the leaf and bud of Camellia sinensis; a 2025 review shows that the Assam form, Camellia assamica, is used for black tea too. Green tea comes from the same plant; only the processing differs.
First comes withering, then rolling or cutting, after which the leaf sits for 2–4 hours in air at 24–29 °C and 95–98 % humidity. Over those hours some 75 % of the catechins end up as theaflavins and thearubigins. Microbes take no part in this, which is why calling it fermentation is wrong; Tea oxidation goes into the chemistry. Finally the leaf is dried. With the CTC method the leaf is withered for at least 9 hours, crushed between rollers turning at 70–100 and 700–1,000 rpm, oxidised for 60–90 minutes and dried to 2.5–3 % moisture. The orthodox method rolls the leaf more gently on special rollers.
Darjeeling tea is made only the orthodox way: withering takes 14–16 hours, oxidation 2–4 hours, drying 20–30 minutes. Around 20,000 shoots go into a single kilogram of the finished tea. The name has held EU PGI status since 2011.
By a calculation from FAO data, the 2022 black tea crop came to 3,578,805 tonnes, roughly 53 % of all 6.7 million tonnes of tea. It grows more slowly than green tea, at 2.1 % a year, and FAO projects 4.42 million tonnes by 2032.
Theaflavins give the cup its orange-red tint, thearubigins its red-brown. The USDA figure is 20 mg of caffeine in 100 g of brewed black, which a 240 ml cup turns into an estimated 48 mg; decaf has 1 mg. For comparison, Green tea has 12 mg, oolong 16 mg and coffee 40 mg.
Darjeeling packs carry a Tea Board of India licence number and logo, plus a leaf-size grade: Whole Leaf (FTGOP), Brokens (TGBOP) or Fannings (GOF). Other names from the UK Tea & Infusions Association table include Assam, Ceylon, Kenya, Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong.
UKTIA advises water at 90–98 °C and one bag or one heaped teaspoon per cup. Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon Dimbula, Kenya and Earl Grey need 3–4 minutes, Ceylon Uva 3, Lapsang Souchong 4–5. Tea with milk belongs to black tea: even ISO 3103 allows milk for black tea only, and that is how the British serve it at Afternoon tea.
Why this matters to you: knowing a cup holds about 48 mg of caffeine makes it easy to fit black tea within the 400 mg a day that EFSA considers safe for healthy adults.
Facts
| Botanical origin | Camellia sinensis; also Camellia assamica |
|---|---|
| Country | World 3,578,805 t in 2022 (FAO); India (Darjeeling) |
| Colour | Orange-red to red-brown liquor |
| Temperature | 90–98 °C (UKTIA) |
| Duration | 3–4 min; Ceylon Uva 3 min, Lapsang Souchong 4–5 min |
| House range | Whole Leaf (FTGOP), Brokens (TGBOP), Fannings (GOF); orthodox and CTC |
How it connects to Tea & herbal infusions
Black tea → kind of → Types of tea → kind of → 🍵 Tea
Links
- Next step
- Tea oxidation
- What is made from it
- English Breakfast tea, Earl Grey tea, Masala chai, Iced tea
- Where it is found
- 🍵 Tea with milk, 🥃 Jägertee
- Alternatives
- 🌿 Rooibos, Fireweed tea (ivan chai)
- Traditions
- 🧑🤝🧑 British
- Part of
- Types of tea
- Similar and different
- Green tea, Dark tea and pu-erh
- Part of which tradition?
- Turkish tea (çay), East Frisian tea culture, Afternoon tea
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called breakfast tea?
Breakfast tea is simply another common name for black tea. It is brewed the same way: water at 90–98 °C, one tea bag or one heaped teaspoon of leaf per cup.
How do growers process Darjeeling?
Only by the orthodox method: withering for 14–16 hours, oxidation, then drying for 20–30 minutes. One kilogram of finished tea takes about 20,000 shoots.
How many cups of black tea fit under EFSA's daily caffeine limit?
A 240 ml cup holds about 48 mg, while EFSA treats up to 400 mg a day from all sources as safe for healthy adults who are not pregnant.
Is there a decaffeinated black tea?
Yes. USDA gives decaffeinated black tea only a trace of caffeine, about a twentieth of the regular brew.
Is it true that black tea has as much caffeine as coffee?
No. USDA lists 20 mg of caffeine per 100 g of brewed black tea against 40 mg for brewed coffee, twice as much.
Does black tea block iron?
Strongly, when drunk with food. In a 1999 study with a bread meal, black tea cut absorption of non-haem iron by 79–94% compared with water, and adding milk made little or no difference. If your iron is low, ask your doctor how to fit tea around meals.
Comparisons
Guides
What to read next
- English Breakfast tea — English Breakfast is a blend of black teas, traditionally Assam and Ceylon and often African tea, made strong enough to go with a full English breakfast.
- Turkish tea (çay) — Türkiye's everyday drink of hospitality: hot, freshly brewed black tea in small pear-shaped glasses, with sugar, lemon, jam or dried fruit.
- 🧑🤝🧑 British — People of Great Britain; their protected West Country Cheddar matures for at least 9 months, and tea is drunk with milk.
- 🥃 Jägertee — Jägertee is an Austrian liqueur with an EU-protected name: ethyl alcohol with black tea, mandatory Inländerrum rum and orange and lemon extracts. At least 22.5% ABV in the bottle, sugar from 100 g/l, usually diluted with hot water.
- 🌿 Rooibos — South African herbal infusion made from the leaves and stems of Aspalathus linearis, not from the tea plant; naturally caffeine-free and an EU protected designation of origin since 2021.
Similar
Oolong tea · White tea · Yellow tea · Dark tea and pu-erh · Green tea
ℹ️ Tea contains caffeine. EFSA considers up to 400 mg a day, and up to 200 mg at a time, safe for healthy adults; for pregnant and breastfeeding women the figure is up to 200 mg a day. Herbal infusions contain almost none.
What it includes
Sources
- FAO, Intergovernmental Group on Tea, CCP:TE/24/2, 2024
- Abudureheman B. et al., Enzymatic Oxidation of Tea Catechins, Molecules 27(3):942, 2022
- Tanaka T., Matsuo Y., Production Mechanisms of Black Tea Polyphenols, Chem. Pharm. Bull. 68(12), 2020
- UPASI Tea Research Foundation, CTC Tea Manufacture
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1050/2011, Darjeeling PGI
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy
- EFSA, Caffeine
- UK Tea & Infusions Association, The Perfect Brew
- ISO 3103:2019 Tea — Preparation of liquor for use in sensory tests
- Discover Food 5:250 (2025), review of tea flavour and colour
- eAmbrosia — Yingde Hong Cha (PGI, China; «hong cha» = black tea)
- NHS — Iron deficiency anaemia: treatment
- Hurrell, Reddy, Cook. Inhibition of non-haem iron absorption in man by polyphenolic-containing beverages. Br J Nutr 81(4), 1999