Black tea styles compared
Five black teas that share a processing route and almost nothing else. Anyone who has decided black tea is one flavour has met one of these and generalised from it.
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What is being compared
Why these get confused
'Black tea' is treated as a flavour in most shops and is a processing route. The gap between Dian Hong and Lapsang Souchong is wider than the gap between many black and oolong teas.
Point by point
| Aspect | Assam | Darjeeling second flush | Keemun | Dian Hong | Lapsang Souchong |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where it is from and what leaf | North-east India, native large-leaf assamica on a hot river plain. | Himalayan West Bengal, small-leaf sinensis at altitude. | Anhui, China. Small-leaf sinensis, and a tea invented only in the 1870s. | Yunnan, China. The same large-leaf stock that becomes pu-erh. | Wuyi, Fujian. Generally accepted as the oldest black tea. |
| What makes it distinctive | Full oxidation on assamica, giving the most body and the most malt. | Slow growth at altitude and a summer picking, giving muscatel character. | A cocoa-and-pine sweetness that no other origin reproduces. | High bud content, giving sweet-potato sweetness with almost no grip. | Finishing over smouldering pine — a step, not an origin trait. |
| Commonly described as | Malty, brisk, heavy-bodied, with raisin and cocoa. | Muscat grape, apricot and walnut over a light malt base. | Cocoa, pine, dried plum and orchid; softer than any Indian black. | Sweet potato, honey and cocoa; thick and low in astringency. | Pine smoke and tar over a genuinely sweet dried-fruit tea. |
| Brewing | Boiling water, three to four minutes. Very forgiving. | 90 to 95 °C, three minutes. Over-steeping buries the fruit. | 90 to 95 °C, three minutes; also rewards gongfu. | 90 to 95 °C. Bud-heavy grades go bitter at full boil. | Boiling water but a shorter steep — the smoke builds fast. |
| With milk? | Built for it. | Not traditionally; milk erases the muscatel. | Takes a little without collapsing, and is more interesting without. | Not traditionally — there is no astringency for milk to cut. | Regional variation; some drink it with milk, many do not. |
| Who may prefer it | Anyone wanting a strong, forgiving mug with milk. | Anyone drawn to aromatic, fruit-led tea drunk plain. | Anyone who finds Indian blacks too sharp but wants real depth. | Anyone who dislikes astringency — the gentlest of the five. | A minority taste, and worth trying a small amount of first. |
The short answer
Dian Hong is the easiest of the five to enjoy without milk and the best starting point for someone who has only met breakfast blends. Assam is the reference for what 'malty' means. The others are each doing something specific enough that liking one predicts little about the rest.
Not a ranking. TeaHQ publishes no ratings and does not know your occasion.