Black tea gives you an energy boost.
People often have tea in the afternoon as a way of increasing their energy. Afternoon tea as we know it today was in fact created for just this reason. Back in the mid 1800s, at around the time that tea was introduced to England, dinner was often eaten quite late, and the gap between meals was too long. Tea was introduced as a light meal for the upper classes.
Black tea contains antioxidants.
Most of us have heard of free radicals and know that they are linked to problems such as cancer, heart disease and arthritis. Free radicals cause damage to the cells in our body by causing oxidisation. Oxidisation is something that happens naturally in and out of the body. It is not something we can avoid.
Black tea leads to better oral health.
One of the other benefits of black tea is in oral hygiene. Some studies have suggested that rinsing with tea may lead to better oral health. Apparently this is also thought be to due to antioxidants.
A little more about black tea.
All tea comes from the same kind of bush, Camellia sinesis. It is called green or black or white depending on the way it has been dried and treated once it has been picked, and it has different qualities depending on where in the world it was grown.
Black teas are processed differently around the world. Basically, though, they are all withered first. The leaves are picked and spread out to for up to 18 hours to begin to dry.
Then they are either rolled or cut (rolling makes a better tea, cutting is for teabags). This breaks the skin of the leaf and releases the juices. Then they are allowed to oxidize for a short time by simply being spread out and left (only for 30 minutes or so).
Finally, the oxidization is stopped by heating the leaves, usually in a dryer of some kind.