What’s the Difference Between an Iced and Black Tea? (Comparison)

When you wake up in the morning after a long night’s work and your head start to pound as if you had a headache, you make yourself a coffee which helps you wake up properly, but your headache is still there. 

To fix the headache, many people take pills to stop it, and many make a hot or even cold cup of tea, which helps stop the headache and wakes you up. There are varieties of tea such as half and half, black tea, milk tea, mocha tea, etc. 

About 2 to 3 million people worldwide drink tea, and about 3 billion tons of tea are exported or imported from various Asian countries. Tea is preferred over coffee as 1 million people only drink coffee.

Origin of Tea

Tea is a drink that has a beautiful aroma or smell that pleases one’s taste buds and makes them refresh. It is prepared by pouring boiling water on tea leaves chemically known as Camellia Sinensis.

These are hand-picked in many Asian countries like China, India, and other East Asian countries. There are many tea types; some have contracting, sweet, and bitter flavors. 

These teas are beneficial, as the herbal contents can even cure a sick person. People widely consume tea as it contains caffeine in it. Tea is preferred over coffee, but extensive drinking of tea and coffee could harm and damage one’s body. 

Tea was introduced and originated first in southwestern China and northern Bruma. The first tea drinking was in the third century AD, written by Hua Tuo. The Tang Dynasty of China popularized it, and as time passed, it spread to other East Asian Countries.  

In the 16th century, it was introduced by Portuguese priests and merchants in Europe. And in the 17th century, it became a trend among the Englishmen, so they planted many tea leaves on a large scale in India. 

 Tea and herbal tea are two different teas with different recipes as herbal tea has a lot of other content than a typical tea has. 

What Is Iced Tea? 

Iced tea, often known as iced tea, is a type of tea that is served cold. Iced tea is prepared by tea with ice to make it chilled or cold. It can be sweet or bitter, but most people drink it sweet, which could be sugar, syrup, and even fruits. 

Somedays, people are too lazy to make iced tea at home, so they buy pre-made packaged iced tea, which consists of different flavors. Some familiar flavors are lemon, raspberry, lime, passion fruit, peach, orange, strawberry, and cherry. 

History of Iced Tea

Marguerite Countess of Blessington described iced tea in Naples dating back to 1823. The oldest recipes for iced tea were written in the 1870s. In 1871 Mary Ann Bryan Mason wrote a recipe for the iced tea in her cookbook. 

There were two more cookbooks with iced tea recipes, Buckeye’s Cookbook, written by Estelle Woods Wilcox in 1876, and Housekeeping in Old Virginia, written by Marion Cabell Tyree in 1878. 

Iced tea was first introduced in the US in the 1860s. In the 1870s, it became pretty standard. Iced tea was offered in the hotels and railroad stations and became popular extensively after Richard Blechynden introduced it in 1904 at World’s Fair, St. Louis. 

It became so popular in the US that the US made an addition to a standard cutlery set, as they added an iced tea spoon in it. It was described as a spoon with a long handle used in bars by bartenders nowadays. It was a blessing for the people in the summer. 

Different Varieties of Iced Tea 

Iced tea is always served with a lemon slice or orange slice as a garnish. The slice is placed on the rim of the glass. Nonetheless, garnishing on the iced tea solely depends on the customer’s choice. Many people in the US drink iced tea with milk to make it creamy and sweet. 

As we know, in the US, many people of different cultures have different foods and cuisine, and to accommodate them, different tea flavors are also available. Let’s see some of the most profound/popular ones: 

• In BBQ, southern cuisine, and soul food, many eaters take black iced tea. Fruit and herbal iced teas are also famous. 
• In some expensive and high-end coffeehouses, tropical flavors such as Earl Grey tea or Jasmine tea are available. 
• In many Thai restaurants, Thai iced tea is prevalent. 
• Jasmine tea, Genmaicha, and Hojicha are presented hot in many Chinese restaurants, and then the patron pours them on the ice. These are also available in other Asian cuisine restaurants.

Bottled Iced Tea 

Sometimes people are in a hurry for offices, appointments, schools/colleges, etc. They forget to drink their morning tea, so many buy packaged teas. Many companies make these package teas, including Arizona, Honest tea, Lipton, Nestea, Gold Peak, Snapple, and Turkey hills. Their iced tea product can be found in every convenience store and online on amazon. 

In many different flavors and leaf types, it is usually black and green and occasionally white. These are produced in vast quantities and are delivered in various countries worldwide; you can buy them sweetened and unsweetened as you desire. 

Most sweet iced teas are sweetened with corn syrup, and other brands like Snapple and Lipton sweeten the iced tea with sugar instead of corn syrup.

Unsweetened iced tea contains an additive citric acid used for flavor or preservatives. Like a bottle, there are also canned ones under high pressure so they don’t get crushed, which can end up in a very mid-effervescence. 

What Is Black Tea? 

Black tea, translated as red tea in various Asian languages, is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white, and green tea. Black is much more robust in taste than other tea types.  

All five of them are made by shrubs Camellia Sinensis. Camellia taliensis isn’t used frequently. There are two varieties used, the small leaf Chinese tree (C. Sinensis var. Sinensis) and the large leaf Assamese plant (C. Sinensis var. assamica), used traditionally when serving black tea. 

First originating from China, the beverage was named hong cha, also known as red tea, due to the color produced by the tea leaves. This beverage is consumed and harvested all over East and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Singapore. 

Black tea is also available in South Asian countries. Green tea quickly loses its flavor in a year, whereas black tea retains its flavors for years; due to this reason, it has been traded all over Asia and other continents. 

FUN FACT: In Mongolia, Tibet, and Siberia, compressed bricks of Black tea were used as a currency in the 19th century; the currency was known as de facto.

Watch this video to know more about black tea:

Varieties 

There are many different types of tea with different flavors coming from various countries and regions. These unblended teas are named after the region. Some of the famous tea-producing countries are mentioned here: 

Korea 

Nepal 

Sri Lanka 

Turkey 

Iran 

These are a few names of the tea-producing regions, but there are many more.

Black Tea Blends 

 Many black teas are finished with a blend of various varieties of black tea. Black tea is made of different blends of various plants and flavoring to obtain good black tea.  

Some of the blends are as follows: 

Earl Grey Tea 

Black tea with the addition of bergamot oil. 

Lady Grey Tea 

Black tea with the inclusion of bergamot oil, lemon peel, orange peel, and sometimes cornflower petals, Lady Grey, was used as a trademark of the company twinings. Other brands have also copied the name format, such as Madame Grey, Empress Grey, and Duchess Grey. 

English Tea 

A tea full of flavors, rich, and blended so well to go with milk and sugar. 

English tea (afternoon)  

Tea that’s best for refreshing and with a beautiful aroma to make your afternoon fantastic. It is blended with strong Assam, Kenyan teas, and Ceylon, making it bright. 

Irish Tea 

It’s a blend of many teas, including Assam tea most of the time and sometimes other kinds of black tea. 

Masala Chai (Indian Tea) 

It’s a beverage made out of black tea combined with spices of India, milk, and lastly, sweetened with some honey or sugar. This beverage is a kind of traditional drink consumed daily by the locals of India and even many centuries ago in ancient kingdoms of the region.

Nowadays, it is liked by the locals in the west, introduced by the British East Company. They altered the recipe to satisfy the tastes of those people.

Black Tea Grading  

Black tea is graded on a scale of one and four quality. Whole leaf teas are of the highest quality; the best whole leaf is the orange pekoe. The broken leaves are next to the whole leaf, Fannings, then dust. The whole leaf is known to be the most valuable if it has leaf tips. Broken leaf ends up selling as a medium-grade tea. 

Brewing  

One uses 0.08 ounces (2.26 g) of tea per 8 US fl oz (237 ml) of water. Unlike green teas, when brewed, turn bitter at higher temperatures, black tea should soak in water, and the temperature should be about 212 °F (100 °C) for 3-5 min. This can also widely on the custom or the taste as in another version of the same amount of tea per 12 US fl oz (355 ml) or 50% more dilute. 

The tea in India is brewed by putting water and letting it boil for 1-2 minutes, and then adding the tea leaves; after adding it, you can add milk. If you want, you can add milk at the beginning in the place of the water too. After the milk, wait for two more minutes until it boils. Now gently pour it into the mug or a cup with sweeteners such as honey, sugar, or syrup and enjoy. 

Which Is More Healthy: Iced tea or Black Tea? 

Iced tea is full of richness and nutrients to keep you running. If it is consumed without any sweeteners, your calorie intake is also kept under check. 

A glass of iced tea for a day keeps you up and running and stops your stomach from aching. A rich cup of manganese tea helps you heal your wounds or fast and strengthen your bones; it is considered an herbal tea. 

Black tea is also a rich beverage with rich antioxidants, which provide benefits such as improved heart and healthy organs, and lowered LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. Besides water, the most consumed beverage is black tea. 

The Advantages of Iced Tea And Black Tea

Iced Tea	Black Tea
Keeps You Hydrated	Boost Heart Health
Boosts Antioxidants	Reduces the Risk of Stroke
Helps Your Teeth	Help Reduces Blood Pressure
Chills the Nerves	Has Antioxidant Properties
Helps Your Heart	Helps in Lowering Blood Sugar Levels

The Disadvantages of Iced Tea And Black Tea

Iced Tea	Black Tea
Poor Sleep	Anxiety and Difficulty Sleeping
Increased Anxiety, Stress, and Restlessness	Faster Breathing
Nausea	Headache
Heartburn	Increased Urination
Headaches	Irregular Heartbeat

Conclusion

• In the end, both iced and black tea are beverages used for refreshment and relaxation. They are like comfort drinks. Iced tea is made both ways hot and cold. When it is made hot, it is poured over ice to be cooled and chilled, and if cold, you don’t need to do anything but relax and enjoy the refreshment.

• Black tea can also be consumed both hot and cold, primarily hot, as many believe that hot drinks can heal a person from inside and outside by making your healing faster. Many people also say that it could cure cancer and many other diseases.

• In my opinion, if it’s a scorching day, and the sun is blazing, then I would go for the iced tea for the refreshment, but if it were a cold day in winter, then I would prefer the black tea as it is a cozy comfort drink near the fireplace and would relax.

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