Broken Black Tea
Broken black tea, also called graded black tea,is a dominant product in the international market and is about 80% of global tea export gross. In the 1870s, Indian George Reed invented the tea cutter to cut strip tea into broken pieces,marking the debut of broken black tea. The complete twisting and cutting during the production of broken black tea greatly destroy the leaf cells and lixiviate tea liquid,contributing to the oxidation and infusion of the polyphenol enzyme and the forming of its lingering fragrance, red and strong liquid and fresh taste.
After adding milk and sugar,it is still strong. Ordinary broken black tea is more suitable for adding milk,sugar,honey,juice,coffee or other flavors.According to different twisting and cutting methods, it is classified into traditional, C.T.C., Rotorvane,L.T.P.and sun-withering-free broken black tea. They are further divided into leaf, broken, flake and powder tea based on leaf shapes.
Quality and features vary greatly with the varietyof production places and species. Broken black tea is mainly produced in Yunnan,Guangdong,Hainan,Guangxi,Guizhou,Hunan,Hubei,Jiangxi,Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
The broken black tea processed from fesh leaves of the big-leaf species in Yunnan has the highest quality,while that from the small-leaf species is comparatively poor.Currently, most raw tea for home-made tea bags is from the broken black tea produced in Yunnan,Guangdong,Guangxi and Hainan.
