Black Tea, Basic Black Tea

1. We have a huge collection of tea recipes on our website. So apart from Black Tea, you can also try out recipes like:
   • Kashmiri Kahwa
   • Masala Chai
   • Phudina Green Tea

1. A cup of hot black tea is quite refreshing if you have adapted the taste as its strong in flavour as compared to tea with milk. While there is some amount of caffeine in black tea, it does offer some health benefits. They are rich in antioxidants polyphenol which promote overall health. They help reduce high cholesterol and high sugar levels, thus reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They are also known to improve our immune system and help ward of other diseases.
2. You may love to drink regular tea with milk, but that’s just for pleasure. What yields health benefits is black tea. Consuming black tea is a better option than a glass of tea with milk as milk negates the beneficial effects of black tea. 
   What to do? 
   • Add flavours like grated ginger or lemon juice is the best option. These taste enhancers are sure to please your palate. While sugar is typically not added to black tea, small amount is your choice. However those watching waist line and suffering from diabetes shouldn’t prefer this.
   • Another option is to reach out for green tea as it possess more antioxidants than black tea and helps to improve metabolism and aid in weight loss.

1. Take a saucepan and put 2 (400 ml approx.) cups of water.
   
2. Let it boil completely for about 3 minutes. Turn the flame off.
   
3. Add the tea leaves. Always add the tea leaves only after you have turned the flame off. This will prevent the Black Tea from getting over-brewed and bitter.
   
4. Cover with a lid. The lid will seal the saucepan and will not let the aroma of the tea leaves escape. Let the Black Tea leaves steep for about 2 ½ to 3 minutes.
   
5. Strain the tea using a tea strainer. You can also use a carafe to make this tea. Put water in the carafe and boil the water in a microwave. Rest of the steps will remain the same.
   
6. Pour the black tea into your cups.
   
7. Add 1 tsp of sugar in each cup. This step is completely optional. Adding sugar should be avoided as it lessens the effect of the Black Tea.
8. Serve the Black tea immediately while it is hot.
   

1. Repeat the steps 1-7 to make the basic Black Tea.
   
2. Add about ¼ tsp of lemon juice to each cup. You will observe that the color of your Black Tea becomes lighter and more appealing. Also, adding a few drops lemon to your tea will make it healthier as lemon juice is a digestive and detoxifying agent.
   
3.  Add 1 tsp of sugar in each cup. This step is Optional. Adding sugar can be avoided as it reduces the effect of the Black Tea and Lemon.
4. Serve your Black Tea with Lemon immediately. Keeping it for a long time will make it bitter.
   

1. Take about ½ inch of ginger and grate it.
2. Take 2 cups of water (400 ml approx.) cups of water in a saucepan.
   
3. Add grated ginger into the saucepan. We add ginger to the water before boiling. This mellows down the pungency.
   
4. Boil it for about 3 minutes.
   
5. Turn the flame off.
6. Add the tea leaves and cover with a lid to prevent the aroma of the tea leaves from escaping while they are steeping. Boiling the tea leaves will make your Black tea bitter.
   
7. Let them steep for about 2 ½ to 3 minutes. The tea leaves will get rehydrated and release their color and aroma into the water.
8. Strain the tea using a tea strainer.
   
9. Pour the black tea with Ginger into your cups.
   
10. Add 1 tsp of honey in each cup. You can skip honey if you wish to. You can also add 3-4 crushed peppercorns to make it healthier. This Black tea can help you to recover from common cold. You can have this tea twice a day for better digestion.
    
11. Serve the Black Tea with ginger and Honey hot.