Manufacturing Steps For Different True Teas

Black Orthodox tea

Plucking

Withering

Rolling

Oxidation

Drying

Grading

Plucking Green Leaf

The leaf that you pluck from the tea bushes is called green leaf.
Tea plucking is a specialized skill and is the most important step in determining final tea quality.
Bad green leaf standard can never make great tea no matter how sophisticated the processes.
Green leaf standard refers to what size, shape and type of leaves are plucked from the bush.
In general, the smaller the leaf plucked, the higher the leaf standard.
“Two leaf and a bud” is the gold standard of tea plucking
- it refers to a plucker removing only two leaves a young bud from the bush
- it gives the optimum balance of quality and quantity
There are other types of leaves the pluckers remove as well – one leaf and a bud, three leaf and a bud, single soft banji, banji.
Depending on the type of tea you intend to make, you can vary plucking standard. For example, “two leaf and a bud” is a good plucking standard for making Black Teas and Green Teas, but “only bud” is the ideal standard for making Silver Needle White Teas.

Withering

Withering or wilting is the first step in tea manufacture after plucking.
It is done by spreading a carpet of tea leaves in a “trough” or “rack” with or without air being blown from below the enclosure to aid air flow.
It serves two main purposes – reduces moisture content (physical wither) and develops flavor compounds and aromas (chemical wither)
Physical wither needs to happen so tea can be rolled without breaking i.e., become pliable. This is especially important for making high quality Orthodox Black Teas.
Chemical wither needs to happen so chlorophyll can slowly reduce, caffeine levels can rise and tea aroma can start developing.
Withering can be done to remove one-third to one-half of the moisture, depending on the type of tea you plan to make.
Withering roughly takes 12-14 hours from the time it starts to the time the withered leaf is ready to go to the next stage.

Rolling

The “rolling stage” is unique only to Orthodox Black Teas and Green Teas. CTC Black Teas are not rolled but instead macerated (crushed into pulp) in a machine called CTC Machine (which stands for “Crush-Tear-Curl”).
For Orthodox Black and Green Teas, the withered leaves with reduced moisture are transferred to “rolling tables”
Rolling refers to the act of gently twisting and pressing the leaves to extract the juices that are held inside.
The goal is to distribute the moisture evenly on the outside of the leaves.
This exposes enzymes to the air, speeding up the process of oxidation (in the case of Orthodox Black Teas). Volatile aromatic compounds are also increased during the rolling step.
Rolling also accomplishes the particularly important function of twisting or shaping the tea leaves to get the “twist” which is a desirable characteristic for Whole Leaf Black and Green Teas and fetches a premium

Oxidation

Oxidation or “fermenting” as it is commonly referred to in the industry is the step which gives certain teas their dark color. The darker a tea’s color, the more oxidized it is.
Black teas are fully oxidized, Oolong teas are partially oxidized, whereas green and white teas are unoxidized, and therefore retain the original color of the plucked green leaf or bud.
During oxidation, several enzymatic reactions take place which result in browning the leaf and development of specific flavors and antioxidants like theobromine and theaflavins (which are linked to weight loss, increased immunity and reduction in cholesterol).
The characteristic flavor, unique health benefits and energy giving properties of Black Tea and Oolong Tea are a result of oxidation.

Drying

Drying is the final step before tea is considered “made”. Everything done after drying is considered value addition – grading, sorting, blending etc.
Drying refers to the process of passing the tea leaves through an “oven” or “drier” – several specialized machines and technologies exist to ensure precise temperatures are maintained.
There are two purposes to drying – to stop oxidation and to reduce moisture to below 3%.
Stopping oxidation allows the enzymatic reactions within the leaf to stop and seals in the flavors, compounds, and aromas due to a hard outer case being formed. This step is relevant to oxidized teas like Black Teas and Oolong Teas. For Green and White Teas (which are not oxidized to begin with), the process of drying is done primarily to reduce moisture content.
Reducing moisture to below 3% is essential for optimum shelf stability and taste of all teas.
It is important to note that made tea is hygroscopic in nature (absorbs moisture) – which is why the longer tea is stored before consumption, the lower its quality becomes.

Grading

The tea made after drying is a mix of all different shapes and sizes – it is a finished product and can be steeped and drunk but usually it is graded before packing so it can be sold more easily.
Grading or “sieving” is the process of passing made tea through different size meshes so that different sizes and shapes of tea can be segregated.
Since buyers look for specific sizes and shapes of teas to fit their “blends”, manufacturers grade their teas using machines in their factories.
Sorting also refers to the process of removing “stalks” from made tea which were the stems of the tea plant and got plucked along with the leaves. These are undesirable as they impart a woody, bitter taste to tea.

Black CTC tea

Plucking

Withering

Maceration

Oxidation

Drying

Grading

Plucking Green Leaf

The leaf that you pluck from the tea bushes is called green leaf.
Tea plucking is a specialized skill and is the most important step in determining final tea quality.
Bad green leaf standard can never make great tea no matter how sophisticated the processes.
Green leaf standard refers to what size, shape and type of leaves are plucked from the bush.
In general, the smaller the leaf plucked, the higher the leaf standard.
“Two leaf and a bud” is the gold standard of tea plucking
- it refers to a plucker removing only two leaves a young bud from the bush
- it gives the optimum balance of quality and quantity
There are other types of leaves the pluckers remove as well – one leaf and a bud, three leaf and a bud, single soft banji, banji.
Depending on the type of tea you intend to make, you can vary plucking standard. For example, “two leaf and a bud” is a good plucking standard for making Black Teas and Green Teas, but “only bud” is the ideal standard for making Silver Needle White Teas.

Withering

Withering or wilting is the first step in tea manufacture after plucking.
It is done by spreading a carpet of tea leaves in a “trough” or “rack” with or without air being blown from below the enclosure to aid air flow.
It serves two main purposes – reduces moisture content (physical wither) and develops flavor compounds and aromas (chemical wither)
Physical wither needs to happen so tea can be rolled without breaking i.e., become pliable. This is especially important for making high quality Orthodox Black Teas.
Chemical wither needs to happen so chlorophyll can slowly reduce, caffeine levels can rise and tea aroma can start developing.
Withering can be done to remove one-third to one-half of the moisture, depending on the type of tea you plan to make.
Withering roughly takes 12-14 hours from the time it starts to the time the withered leaf is ready to go to the next stage.

Maceration

For CTC tea manufacture, the withered green leaves are directly transferred to a “rotorvane” which macerates the leaf and then to a “CTC” machine which “crushes-tears-curls” the leaf
This makes the leaves homogenous as well as accelerates the oxidation step of tea leaves resulting in the development of “typical” tea like flavors faster.
The process of maceration or crushing makes the teas more astringent and bitter in taste which is why CTC teas are generally consumed with milk and/or sugar. Orthodox teas are generally consumed without milk so richer flavors are more sought after and therefore these teas are “rolled” instead of crushed.
CTC manufacture skips the “rolling step” and instead goes through maceration and re-conditioning into the granular pellets known as “chai patti” or “tea powder” in India.

Oxidation

Oxidation or “fermenting” as it is commonly referred to in the industry is the step which gives certain teas their dark color. The darker a tea’s color, the more oxidized it is.
Black teas are fully oxidized, Oolong teas are partially oxidized, whereas green and white teas are unoxidized, and therefore retain the original color of the plucked green leaf or bud.
During oxidation, several enzymatic reactions take place which result in browning the leaf and development of specific flavors and antioxidants like theobromine and theaflavins (which are linked to weight loss, increased immunity and reduction in cholesterol).
The characteristic flavor, unique health benefits and energy giving properties of Black Tea and Oolong Tea are a result of oxidation.

Drying

Drying is the final step before tea is considered “made”. Everything done after drying is considered value addition – grading, sorting, blending etc.
Drying refers to the process of passing the tea leaves through an “oven” or “drier” – several specialized machines and technologies exist to ensure precise temperatures are maintained.
There are two purposes to drying – to stop oxidation and to reduce moisture to below 3%.
Stopping oxidation allows the enzymatic reactions within the leaf to stop and seals in the flavors, compounds, and aromas due to a hard outer case being formed. This step is relevant to oxidized teas like Black Teas and Oolong Teas. For Green and White Teas (which are not oxidized to begin with), the process of drying is done primarily to reduce moisture content.
Reducing moisture to below 3% is essential for optimum shelf stability and taste of all teas.
It is important to note that made tea is hygroscopic in nature (absorbs moisture) – which is why the longer tea is stored before consumption, the lower its quality becomes.

Grading

The tea made after drying is a mix of all different shapes and sizes – it is a finished product and can be steeped and drunk but usually it is graded before packing so it can be sold more easily.
Grading or “sieving” is the process of passing made tea through different size meshes so that different sizes and shapes of tea can be segregated.
Since buyers look for specific sizes and shapes of teas to fit their “blends”, manufacturers grade their teas using machines in their factories.
Sorting also refers to the process of removing “stalks” from made tea which were the stems of the tea plant and got plucked along with the leaves. These are undesirable as they impart a woody, bitter taste to tea.

Green tea

Plucking

Withering

Fixing

Rolling

Drying

Grading

Plucking Green Leaf

The leaf that you pluck from the tea bushes is called green leaf.
Tea plucking is a specialized skill and is the most important step in determining final tea quality.
Bad green leaf standard can never make great tea no matter how sophisticated the processes.
Green leaf standard refers to what size, shape and type of leaves are plucked from the bush.
In general, the smaller the leaf plucked, the higher the leaf standard.
“Two leaf and a bud” is the gold standard of tea plucking
- it refers to a plucker removing only two leaves a young bud from the bush
- it gives the optimum balance of quality and quantity
There are other types of leaves the pluckers remove as well – one leaf and a bud, three leaf and a bud, single soft banji, banji.
Depending on the type of tea you intend to make, you can vary plucking standard. For example, “two leaf and a bud” is a good plucking standard for making Black Teas and Green Teas, but “only bud” is the ideal standard for making Silver Needle White Teas.

Withering

Withering or wilting is the first step in tea manufacture after plucking.
It is done by spreading a carpet of tea leaves in a “trough” or “rack” with or without air being blown from below the enclosure to aid air flow.
It serves two main purposes – reduces moisture content (physical wither) and develops flavor compounds and aromas (chemical wither)
Physical wither needs to happen so tea can be rolled without breaking i.e., become pliable. This is especially important for making high quality Orthodox Black Teas.
Chemical wither needs to happen so chlorophyll can slowly reduce, caffeine levels can rise and tea aroma can start developing.
Withering can be done to remove one-third to one-half of the moisture, depending on the type of tea you plan to make.
Withering roughly takes 12-14 hours from the time it starts to the time the withered leaf is ready to go to the next stage.

Fixing

For teas that are not supposed to be oxidized (Green Teas and White Teas), we go directly from withering to “fixing.”
Fixing or “kill green” refers to the act of heating the green leaves for a short, sharp burst – it can be done by steaming them or roasting them.
It is done to stop the oxidative browning of tea leaves by denaturing the enzymes responsible for oxidation– polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase.
The reason why green teas are green is because of this step. The leaves are heated before they start oxidizing which results in retention of green color and distinctive, grassy taste in green teas.

Rolling

The “rolling stage” is unique only to Orthodox Black Teas and Green Teas. CTC Black Teas are not rolled but instead macerated (crushed into pulp) in a machine called CTC Machine (which stands for “Crush-Tear-Curl”).
For Orthodox Black and Green Teas, the withered leaves with reduced moisture are transferred to “rolling tables”
Rolling refers to the act of gently twisting and pressing the leaves to extract the juices that are held inside.
The goal is to distribute the moisture evenly on the outside of the leaves.
This exposes enzymes to the air, speeding up the process of oxidation (in the case of Orthodox Black Teas). Volatile aromatic compounds are also increased during the rolling step.
Rolling also accomplishes the particularly important function of twisting or shaping the tea leaves to get the “twist” which is a desirable characteristic for Whole Leaf Black and Green Teas and fetches a premium

Drying

Drying is the final step before tea is considered “made”. Everything done after drying is value addition – grading, sorting, blending etc.
Drying is essentially passing the tea leaves through an “oven” – different machines and technologies exist to do that
There are two purposes to drying – to stop oxidation and to reduce moisture to below 3%
Stopping oxidation allows the enzymatic reactions within the leaf to stop and seals in the flavors, compounds and aromas due to a hard case being formed
Reducing moisture to below 3% is important for optimum shelf stability and taste of tea
It is important to note that made tea is hygroscopic in nature (absorbs moisture) – which is why the longer the tea is stored before consumption, the lower the quality becomes

Grading

The tea made after drying is a mix of all different shapes and sizes – it is a finished product and can be steeped and drunk but usually it is graded before packing so it can be sold more easily.
Grading or “sieving” is the process of passing made tea through different size meshes so that different sizes and shapes of tea can be segregated.
Since buyers look for specific sizes and shapes of teas to fit their “blends”, manufacturers grade their teas using machines in their factories.
Sorting also refers to the process of removing “stalks” from made tea which were the stems of the tea plant and got plucked along with the leaves. These are undesirable as they impart a woody, bitter taste to tea.

White tea

Plucking

Withering

Drying

Plucking Green Leaf

The leaf that you pluck from the tea bushes is called green leaf.
Tea plucking is a specialized skill and is the most important step in determining final tea quality.
Bad green leaf standard can never make great tea no matter how sophisticated the processes.
Green leaf standard refers to what size, shape and type of leaves are plucked from the bush.
In general, the smaller the leaf plucked, the higher the leaf standard.
“Two leaf and a bud” is the gold standard of tea plucking
- it refers to a plucker removing only two leaves a young bud from the bush
- it gives the optimum balance of quality and quantity
There are other types of leaves the pluckers remove as well – one leaf and a bud, three leaf and a bud, single soft banji, banji.
Depending on the type of tea you intend to make, you can vary plucking standard. For example, “two leaf and a bud” is a good plucking standard for making Black Teas and Green Teas, but “only bud” is the ideal standard for making Silver Needle White Teas.

Withering

Withering or wilting is the first step in tea manufacture after plucking.
It is done by spreading a carpet of tea leaves in a “trough” or “rack” with or without air being blown from below the enclosure to aid air flow.
It serves two main purposes – reduces moisture content (physical wither) and develops flavor compounds and aromas (chemical wither)
Physical wither needs to happen so tea can be rolled without breaking i.e., become pliable. This is especially important for making high quality Orthodox Black Teas.
Chemical wither needs to happen so chlorophyll can slowly reduce, caffeine levels can rise and tea aroma can start developing.
Withering can be done to remove one-third to one-half of the moisture, depending on the type of tea you plan to make.
Withering roughly takes 12-14 hours from the time it starts to the time the withered leaf is ready to go to the next stage.

Drying

Drying is the final step before tea is considered “made”. Everything done after drying is value addition – grading, sorting, blending etc.
Drying is essentially passing the tea leaves through an “oven” – different machines and technologies exist to do that
There are two purposes to drying – to stop oxidation and to reduce moisture to below 3%
Stopping oxidation allows the enzymatic reactions within the leaf to stop and seals in the flavors, compounds and aromas due to a hard case being formed
Reducing moisture to below 3% is important for optimum shelf stability and taste of tea
It is important to note that made tea is hygroscopic in nature (absorbs moisture) – which is why the longer the tea is stored before consumption, the lower the quality becomes

HOW IS TEA MADE?

TEA QUALITY DEPENDS ON LEAF QUALITY

Manufacturing Steps For Different True Teas

Black Orthodox tea

Plucking Green Leaf

Withering

Rolling

Oxidation

Drying

Grading

Black CTC tea

Plucking Green Leaf

Withering

Maceration

Oxidation

Drying

Grading

Green tea

Plucking Green Leaf

Withering

Fixing

Rolling

Drying

Grading

White tea

Plucking Green Leaf

Withering

Drying

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