黑茶属于后发酵茶，是我国特有的茶类，它的出现距今已有四百多年的历史。由于黑茶的原料比较粗老，制造过程中往往要堆积发酵较长时间，所以叶片大多呈现暗褐色，因此被人们称为“黑茶”。
Dark tea belongs to Post-fermented tea group, a special type of tea from China. It has a history of over 400 years since its appearance. Since the raw materials used to make dark tea are old and coarse, they have to be piled up for a long time for fermenting. This explains why most dark tea leaves look brown, and therefore called “Dark Tea.”
最早的黑茶是由四川生产的，由绿毛茶经蒸压而成的边销茶。由于四川的茶叶要运输到西北地区，当时交通不便，运输困难，必须减少体积，蒸压成团块。在加工成团块的工程中，要经过二十多天的湿坯堆积，所以毛茶的色泽逐渐由绿变黑。成品团块茶叶的色泽为黑褐色，并形成了茶品的独特风味，这就是黑茶的由来。
The first dark tea was produced from raw green tea in Sichuan Province, which was steamed and compressed, and then sold to the border areas. Since tea produced in Sichuan Province had to transport to the northwestern area and the transportations at that time were not convenient, it was compressed into chunks to reduce the size. In the process of making it into chunks, the tea had to be made into semi-finished wet tea and piled for over 20 days, during this time the tea would turn its color from green to brown. The outcome of the production process for the tea is chunks of tea that are dark and brown in color, thus forming a unique flavor among all types of tea. This is how dark tea is created.
黑茶主要产于湖南、湖北、四川、云南、广西等地，同时也受到藏族、蒙古族和维吾尔族的喜爱。主要品种有云南普洱茶、湖南黑茶、湖北老青茶、四川边茶、广西六堡散茶等。
Dark tea is mainly produced in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guangxi, and is also very popular among the Tibetan, the Mongolians and the Uyghurs. Main types of dark tea consist of pu’er tea from Yunnan Province, dark tea from Hunan Province, old oolong tea from Hubei Province, oolong tea from Sichuan Province and liubao loose tea from Guangxi Province.
滇桂黑茶。云南黑茶是用滇晒青毛茶经潮水沤堆发酵后干燥而制成，统称普洱茶。这种普洱散茶条索肥壮，汤色橙黄，香味醇浓，带有特殊的陈香，可直接饮用。以这种普洱散茶为原料，可蒸压成不同形状的紧压茶--饼茶、紧茶、圆茶（即七子饼茶）。
Dark tea from Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces. Dark tea from Yunnan Province is produced with dark semi-finished tea, which is soaked with tide water for fermenting. All kinds of dark tea can be called pu’er tea. All pu’er loose tea are strong in tea leaves, its tea water is orange-yellow, has long lasting flavor and can be drunk directly. By using pu'er loose tea as a basic material, teas can be steamed and compressed into different forms - cake tea, compressed tea and Chi Tse Pu-erh tea.
湖南黑茶。主要集中在安化生产，此外，益阳、桃江、宁乡、汉寿、沅江等县也生产一定数量。湖南黑茶条索卷折成泥鳅状，色泽油黑，汤色橙黄，叶底黄褐，香味醇厚，具有松烟香。蒸压成砖形的是黑砖、花砖或茯砖等。
Dark tea from Hunan Province. Dark tea from Hunan Province is mainly produced in Anhua. It is also produced in areas like Yiyang, Taojiang, Ningxiang, Hanshou, and Yuanjiang. Hunan Dark Tea leaves are rolled into shape like loaches with a dark color. The tea water is orange in color and brown when seen from the bottom. It has a sweet and pure taste with a nice flavor. When steaming the tealeaves, they can be shaped into dark brick, flower brick and other type of brick.
湖北老青茶。老青茶产于蒲圻、咸宁、通山、崇阳、通城等县，采割的茶叶较粗老，含有较多的茶梗。以老青茶为原料，蒸压成砖形的成品称“老青砖”，主销内蒙古自治区。
Old Oolong Tea from Hubei Province. Old oolong tea is produced in areas like Puqi, Xianning, Tongshan, Chongyang and Tongcheng, etc. The tea leaves are quite coarse and old, with many tea stalks. By using old oolong tea as a basic material, teas can be steamed and compressed into finished products in the form of bricks called “old oolong bricks,” they are sold mainly to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
四川边茶。四川边茶分南路边茶和西路边茶两类，四川雅安、天全、荣经等地生产的南路边茶，压制成紧压茶后，主销西藏，也销青海和四川甘孜藏族自治州。四川灌县、崇庆、大邑等地生产的西路边茶，蒸后压装入篾包制成方包茶或圆包茶，主销四川阿坝藏族自治州及青海、甘肃、新疆等省（区）。南路边茶制法是用割刀采割来的枝叶杀青后，经过多次的“扎堆”、“蒸、馏”后晒干。西路边茶制法简单，将采割来的枝叶直接晒干即可。
Brick tea from Sichuan Province. Brick tea from Sichuan province can be divided into 2 categories, namely the southern brick tea and the western brick tea. The southern brick tea is produced in Ya’an, Tianquan and Rongjing, in the Sichuan province. After the tea is being compressed, it is sold mainly to Tibet and also to Qinghai province and to Ganzi Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. The western brick tea is produced in Guanxian county, Chongqing, and Dayi,in Sichuan province. The tea is steamed, compressed and packaged into square and round bamboo, and are sold mainly to Aba Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, Qinghai province, Gansu province and Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The southern srick tea is produced by tapping the tea branches and leaves with cutting knives, then piling them together and drying them after many rounds of steaming and distilling. It is easy to make western brick tea, simply by drying the tea branches and leaves after collecting.
广西黑茶。最著名的是六堡茶，因产于广西苍梧县六堡乡而得名。已有200多年的生产历史。现在除苍梧外，贺县、横县、岑溪、玉林、昭平、临桂、兴安等县也有一定数量的生产。六堡茶汤味具有红、浓、醇、陈的特点。
Dark tea from Guangxi province. The most famous dark tea from Guangxi province is called liubao tea, which got its name from wher the tea is produced – Liubao town, Cangwu county, in Guangxi province.. Liubao town has been producing this tea for over two centuries. Currently, besides Cangwu county, other counties like Hexian county, Heng county, Chenxi county, Yulin county, Zhaoping county, Lingui county, and Xingan county are also producing the dark tea. The dark tea produced in Liubao town is characteristic of being red in color, strong in taste, sweet in flavor and aging in time.