Place black beans in a large bowl and cover with at least two inches of water. Refrigerate and let soak overnight. Or, for a quick soak, add the beans to a large pot cover with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil, boil hard for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let soak for an hour.

Drain and rinse the soaked beans. Return them to the pot. Add in all the remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the beans are tender. This will depend a lot on the age of your beans. Fresher beans will be ready in 45-60 minutes, older beans might take 2-3 hours. Start tasting around the 45 minute mark.

Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if necessary, then remove beans using slotted spoon. Serve as a side dish.