What is Chinese Red Tea and How to Make it?
Chinese red tea is what is normally referred to as "black tea" in the West. In English, the term “red tea” often refers to rooibos, and less frequently to hibiscus, honeybush, rosehip, raspberry leaf, or rose tea.
What is Chinese red tea?
Chinese red tea is a “true tea”, which means that just like green tea, it is produced from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis tea plant.
In contrast to green tea, red tea is more oxidised and has a more pronounced taste. Because of its stronger taste, the tea can stand up better to added milk or sugar.
There are many different varieties of red tea, which differ a lot based on the processing, variety of C. sinensis used, and growing conditions.
Chinese red tea caffeine content
Just like any other type of “true tea”, Chinese red tea does contain caffeine. Even though it varies a lot depending on the type, one cup of of red tea will typically contain around 47 mg of caffeine (1).
This is considered a relatively moderate amount of caffeine, compared to coffee.
Nutritional value of Chinese red tea
The following table shows the nutritional value of one cup (237 g) of tea brewed with tap water (1):
What does red tea taste like?
There are many different varieties of red tea, each with its own signature taste and flavour.
Because it is more oxidised than green tea, red tea generally has a higher tannin content, more astringency, and overall a stronger taste.
Red tea vs black tea
As mentioned above, Chinese red tea is what is called black tea in the West. But then what is Chinese black tea and how does it differ from red tea?
In China, red tea is known as "hong cha" (紅茶) meaning "red tea”, whereas Chinese black tea is called “hei cha”(黑茶). Chinese black tea has undergone a slightly different fermentation and ageing process. Because of this, the colour of the infusion obtained from black tea has a dark, almost black colour.
Pu Erh and Oolong tea are famous examples of Chinese black teas.
Brewing and serving
For brewing Chinese red tea, you need approximately 1 teaspoon of red tea, per cup of water. Optimal steeping temperature ranges from 90°C (195 °F) to 100°C (212 °F). This basically means you should boil water and use it immediately.
Optimal steeping times normally vary between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. Steeping your tea too long, could lead to a bitter, astringent brew, with a higher caffeine content.
High quality red tea can often be steeped multiple times.
How to brew Chinese red tea?
Chinese red tea is very versatile and can be brewed using different methods. Here are the most popular methods for brewing Chinese red tea:
Western style
This is a relatively easy method to prepare tea, very popular in the West.
What you need:
Teapot with infuser
tea (approximately 1/2 to 1tsp per cup, or 1-2 tsp per teapot)
hot water (approximately 90°C (195 °F) to 100°C (212 °F))
Directions:
Measure the amount you of tea leaves you are going to need and add them to the infuser.
Put the infuser in a mug or teapot.
Pour the hot water over your tea leaves and cover.
Steep for approximately 3 minutes.
Remove the infuser with leaves from the teapot.
Serve and enjoy.
Multiple infusions
Chinese Red tea is excellent when you want to do multiple infusions. You can normally re-steep your leaves 2-4 times, but some varieties of red tea can be used for up to 8 infusions.
What you need:
The infuser with tea leaves that we ended up with in the recipe above
Boiling water (the same temperature as the recipe above)
Directions:
After preparing Western style tea (described in the recipe above), store the tea leaves in a cool, dry place. You can store them up to 8 hours after the first infusion, but the sooner you use them the better.
When you are ready to make your tea, put the infuser with tea leaves back in your teapot.
Boil water and pour over the tea leaves, just like the recipe above.
Steep for about 3-4 minutes.
Remove the infuser with the leaves and store them in a cool, dry place for the next infusion.
Serve and enjoy.
Traditional brewing method
If it is important for you, that your tea is always exactly on the right temperature for drinking, then the traditional brewing method is for you.
What you need:
Gaiwan (or a Yixing teapot)
pitcher (a small one)
small cup
red tea
hot water (approximately 90°C (195 °F) to 100°C (212 °F))
Directions:
Boil some water.
Use some of the water to warm the Gaiwan (or teapot) and your cup. Then discard the water.
Fill your Gaiwan with approximately 1/3 of tea.
Pour the hot water over the tea and cover with the lid.
Steep the tea for approximately 30-60 seconds.
Use the lid of the Gaiwan to "strain" (or separate) the tea leaves from the water, and pour the fresh tea into the pitcher.
Pour the tea from the pitcher into a small cup and enjoy your tea!
Once the tea is finished, you can pour more hot water over the tea leaves in your Gaiwan and re-steep your tea.
If you are still unsure how to brew tea properly using the traditional method, I recommend you check out the video below:
Expert tips for brewing red tea
Use some hot water to warm the teapot before making the tea. This will prevent the water used for steeping from cooling down too quickly.
When making Western style tea, it is recommended to use a teapot with an integrated infuser. This way the leaves will have plenty of space during the infusion and will be easy to remove from the water afterwards.
Do not press on the leaves while brewing, this could help release more tannins and make your tea more bitter.
Use filtered water if possible.
Using water that is not hot enough, could result in a weak and bland tea.
Steeping your tea in water that is too hot, could end up burning the leaves and making the brew taste more bitter. Try to make sure the water has the correct temperature.
If using high quality tea with bigger leaves, it is best to weigh the leaves, instead of measuring them with a spoon. As a general rule of thumb, you can assume that a teaspoon of black tea is equivalent to approximately 2.5 grams (0.1 oz roughly speaking).
Growing, harvesting and processing
Like any true tea, Chinese red tea is made from tea leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant.
Fresh tea leaf → withering → rolling → oxidising → drying → sorting and packaging
The process of making red tea begins with harvesting and rolling the tea leaves. After that, the tea is allowed to fully oxidise.
Red tea is produced in many regions all over China, but some regions are more renowned for it than others. Here are some of the most famous growing regions for Chinese red tea:
Anhui
Yunnan
Fujian
Sichuan
Each of these regions has its own distinct climate and soil characteristics, which impact the quality and taste of the tea leaves.
Different varieties of Chinese red tea
There are many varieties of red tea, each with their particular characteristics - some are more light and fruity, others have a deep earthy flavour, while others are intentionally smoked to develop a deep smoky aroma.
Here are some famous types of Chinese red tea and their main characteristics: