Premium Black Tea 2020

Unlike green tea, black tea is deliberately oxidised to encourage flavour development and browning of the leaves. Oxidation, by the way, is not a bad thing. It’s an integral part of making black tea, which encourages the transformation of simple polyphenols in the leaves to longer more complex ones with a richer flavour profile. As our leaves are large, compared to CTC (crush, tear, curl) tea, which produces small leaf particles suitable for a tea bag, the finished leaves do not develop as dark a colour, and the liquor is relatively paler. Large leaves will also release fewer bitter flavours and astringent tannins. The result is a sweeter cup, with a nuanced and interesting flavour profile. A proud achievement for this young Jersey tea company.