Yes, I hear you. The tea that you tasted, gave you a feeling that it was burnt.
The aroma might have been okay, but the taste might have felt little like burnt wood or charcoal. So, what is it and why does it happen? Let me explain.
Basically during tea production, different teas go through various process, the first being withering and the last being drying. The tea that you tasted burnt like, was because of the drying process.
Artisans around the globe employ various production techniques while trying to produce and dry unique teas. Some use sun drying while other use dryers that use coal or wood/charcoal as a fuel. Further, new technology - rotary dryers using electricity. In case of later two:
- It is likely to have the smokey or burnt taste if the tea is dried using the dryer using wood or coal as the fuel. The particulates from the fire (ash or shoot) can some times accumulate on the tea.
- In case of dryers operated with electricity, if the temperature and timing of drying is not set properly for the tea, it will give off that burnt taste.
So, fundamentally there is nothing wrong with the tea itself, it is just that either it has some smoke particulate matters on it or has been dried wrong (time/temperature control).
Also, note that certain teas are produced that way. Some people prefer smokey teas. Some teas are dried over the smoke. I myself am not a fan of smokey teas, but have tasted some.
If you would like fresher teas without the smog taste, try the following black tea
High Zing 5500 - Gourmet Nepal Black Tea (Click to buy on Amazon)
Written by:
Bhaskar Dahal
