紅茶
こうちゃ · koucha · JLPT N5 · noun
black tea
🍵 紅茶 = crimson (紅) + tea (茶): Japan names it by the red brew
English names the tea by its dark leaves; Japanese names it by the reddish liquid in the cup. 紅 (kou) means crimson, 茶 (cha) means tea. Same drink, two colours: black leaf, red brew.
茶 — grass radical 艹 + 余 (phonetic)
茶 combines the grass radical 艹, indicating a plant, with 余 serving as the phonetic component. It originally derived from the older character 荼, which referred broadly to bitter herbs; a stroke was dropped during the Tang dynasty to distinguish the tea plant specifically. Today it means tea.