What is black tea?

That steaming hot and invigorating cup of black tea which gives the best start to your day is harvested from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. Oolong, white and green teas also stem from camellia sinensis, whereas tisanes or fruit flavoured teas do not.

As a widely drunk beverage black tea is the most oxidised tea, and is generally a stronger flavour than the others. Popular black teas include darjeeling, earl grey, pu-erh, chai and a range of breakfast teas such as Irish Breakfast and English Breakfast.

At T2 our robust New York and Melbourne breakfast teas also jetset their way into our best sellers’ list, perhaps because they are such delightfully full-bodied teas with a dash of natural sweetness.

How much caffeine is in black tea?

All teas which come from the camellia sinensis plant contain caffeine. As you would expect from fully fermented black tea leaves - the basis of all breakfast teas - black tea contains the highest amount of caffeine, with oolong, green and white teas following.

If you’re looking for a caffeine hit from your crack-of-dawn brew, black tea can give a kickstart to your day and or an afternoon pick-me-up.

It’s hard to determine the exact caffeine content of any type of tea. As black tea is a natural product harvested from the camellia sinensis plant, the caffeine levels in the plant can vary from region to region with rainfall and harvesting also impacting on the caffeine content.

How to make black tea?

There are many ways to make a heart-warming cup of black tea with T2 teawares. You might pop a scoop of black tea into your handy T2 teamaker, your super chic and cute-as-can-be teapot, or any vessel using your trusty tea diffuser.

It’s always a good idea to warm your tea vessel with a splash of boiling water, swished around and discarded before pouring in the boiling water within which your tea will steep. Most black teas are quite happy being bathed in 100°C water but there are exceptions – darjeeling being one. Our darling darjeeling would prefer to soak in 90°C for 2-4 minutes.

Brewing times for black leaf teas vary too. Chai and breakfast teas will emerge their very best after 2-4 minutes while the refined and distinguished French Earl Grey says 2-3 minutes is enough, thank you very much. Another world-famous black tea, pu-erh, will happily sit around for 1-5 minutes – so check the brewing guide on each type of tea to ensure you make a perfect brew.