Tea Guides

5 reasons you hate black tea, and why Nepali black tea is different

Most people who say they hate black tea really hate badly brewed, low-quality black tea. The bitter, astringent, mouth-drying cup you get from a supermarket tea bag has nothing in common with well-made loose leaf black tea from the Himalayan foothills. Here are the five most common reasons people dislike black tea, and why our teas from Ilam and Taplejung avoid every one of them.

1. It tastes bitter

Bitterness in black tea comes from pulling out too much tannin, usually from low-grade broken leaf dust brewed too long in boiling water. Mass-market tea bags are made to brew fast and strong, which means a lot of tannin and a mouth coated in astringency.

Our black teas are different because of where they grow: 5,000 to 7,000 ft above sea level in Ilam and Taplejung, Nepal. The cool mountain air slows the leaves' growth, which gives them time to develop sweetness and complex flavour and keeps tannin levels lower. So there's no bitterness, even without milk or sugar. You can steep them for four minutes and still get a clean, sweet finish.

2. It's too astringent and mouth-drying

That dry, puckering feeling after cheap black tea comes from excess tannins binding to proteins in your saliva. Again, it's down to quality and brewing, not something built into black tea. High-altitude, whole-leaf teas processed with care carry far less tannin than machine-processed fannings.

Our Muscatel Black Tea is known for its silky, smooth texture, the opposite of astringent. Gold Black Tea has clean malt and caramel with a honey finish. Neither will dry out your mouth, and both are good without milk.

3. It tastes flat or one-dimensional

If every black tea has tasted the same to you, you've probably only had commodity tea. Single-origin, small-batch loose leaf black teas from different regions taste very different from each other, and each is complex in its own way:

• Muscatel Black Tea: honey-grape, dried apricot, light rose, and a silky finish. It rivals the best-known muscatel character of Darjeeling. From Norling Speciality Tea in Ilam (the farm is in the process of organic certification).
• Ruby Black Tea: dark cherry and cocoa, full-bodied and smooth. Lots of flavour without any harshness.
• Special Black Tea: dark chocolate, dried plum, and pine resin. From Taplejung at 6,000 ft, it's Nepal's rarest tea, with nothing like it in North America.
• Gold Black Tea: smooth malt, caramel, and honey, a gentler and easier profile. Grown on certified organic farmland (Farmers Tea Co, Ilam, 5,500 ft).

4. It has too much caffeine or makes you jittery

Black tea has 40 to 70 mg of caffeine per cup, roughly half as much as filter coffee. Tea also contains L-theanine, an amino acid that moderates the effect of caffeine and encourages calm, focused alertness. People who get jittery on coffee often find black tea gives them smooth, steady energy with no spike or crash.

If you want complex flavour with less caffeine, our Floral Oolong Tea (honey blossom, orchid, soft peach) has some of black tea's intensity with less caffeine.

5. You've never tried a good one

This is the most common reason. If all you've had is supermarket tea bags, you haven't really tasted black tea. You've tasted the lowest-grade, fastest-brewing, least cared-for version of it.

The fix is easy: try small amounts of three or four single-origin loose leaf black teas and brew them properly (90 to 95°C, 3 to 4 minutes, 1.5 tsp per cup). The Tea Sampler Kit ($30) lets you do exactly that, with 10 teas including all four of our black teas, 5g each, enough for 3 to 4 cups of each before you decide which to buy more of.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does black tea taste bitter?

Because too much tannin gets extracted, usually from low-grade broken leaf tea bags brewed too long in boiling water. High-altitude, whole-leaf black teas grown in cooler air, like ours from Ilam and Taplejung at 5,000 to 7,000 ft, have less tannin and more natural sweetness. Brewed properly at 90 to 95°C for 3 to 4 minutes, they aren't bitter at all.

How do I make black tea less bitter?

Three changes make the biggest difference: (1) use good whole-leaf loose tea instead of tea bags, (2) use water just below boiling, 90 to 95°C, and (3) steep for 3 to 4 minutes and no longer. With our loose leaf teas you may not need to adjust anything, because high-altitude growing naturally gives sweet, smooth black teas.

Is there a black tea with no bitterness?

Yes. Our high-altitude black teas from Ilam and Taplejung, Nepal, are naturally sweet and smooth with no bitterness. Gold Black Tea (malt, caramel, honey), Muscatel Black (honey-grape, silky finish), and Ruby Black (dark cherry, cocoa) are all naturally free of bitterness, with no milk or sugar needed. That's because growing at 5,000 to 7,000 ft and processing by hand keeps tannin levels lower than in mass-market teas.

What's a good black tea for someone who doesn't like black tea?

Start with our Gold Black Tea or Muscatel Black Tea. Gold Black is the easiest to like, with smooth malt, caramel, and honey and no harshness. Muscatel Black has a distinctive honey-grape and apricot character that surprises many people who thought they didn't like black tea. You can buy both on their own or in the Tea Sampler Kit ($30), which lets you try them alongside 8 other teas.

Can I drink black tea without milk?

With good loose leaf black tea, definitely. Ours are smooth and sweet enough to drink without milk or sugar, and milk actually hides some of their most interesting flavours: the honey-grape in Muscatel, the caramel in Gold Black, the cherry in Ruby. Needing milk is a sign of harsh, tannic tea, not a feature of good black tea.

Related Reading

• Black Tea Without Bitterness: Why Nepal Hills Is Different
• Complete Guide to Nepali Black Tea
• Black Tea Benefits: What Research Shows
• How to Make the Perfect Cup of Black Tea
• Black Tea Burnout? Why Oolong Is the Upgrade
• Best Tea for People Who Don't Like Tea