How is Tea Made?
Although all tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, the difference between the various teas is a process called oxidation. Tea is processed by breaking down the cell walls of the individual tea leaves through a process called withering and then exposing the tea to air that directly interacts with enzymes in the tea leaf.
Much like a banana that turns brown when exposed to air for a period of time, tea leaves go from their natural state to various stages of oxidation and during the process, change color and develop the unique flavors associated with the individual types of tea.
What are the Steps in Processing Tea?
Classifications of Tea
The first step in understanding tea processing is the understanding of the major classifications of tea. There are a number of classification schemes but the one that provides the greatest understanding at this time classifies tea, based upon the level of oxidation, as follows:
- Green - No Oxidation (0%)
- Yellow - No Oxidation (0%)
- White - Very Slight Oxidation (<8%)
- Oolong - Partial Oxidation (1-99%)
- Black - Complete Oxidation (100%)
- Pu-erh - Always Fermented/Not Always Oxidized (Note: Pu-erh always undergoes a fermentation process during a lenghty storage process in caves)
Since all classification schemes are somewhat arbitrary, the key to understanding is the fact that tea changes according to the level of oxidation.
Elements of Production
Production of the various categories of tea has developed over the many years that tea has been consumed and can be clearly identified. Basically, there are eight steps of production:
- Plucking
- Sorting
- Cleaning
- Primary Drying/Withering
- Manufacturing - (This is the Oxidation Step that results in the different Types of Tea)
- Final Firing/Drying
- Sorting
- Packing
Although these steps are very well defined in the world of tea, the manufacturing step is more art than science as small changes in the process often produces very different results. The garden, where the production process is performed, generally keep the details of the production process a closely held secret.
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