Green Tea

is unfermented tea. One differentiates between two procedures: the steamed tea, mainly employed in Japan, and the panfired tea used in China where leaves are roasted in pans.
The steamed tea is treated with hot water steam. For the roasted tea, the freshly plucked leaves are dried for approximately 2 hours on bamboo sieves and, subsequently, briefly roasted in wok-like, wood-buring pans. Due to this brief heating, the fermentation is prevented. After this withering process, the leaves are formed (e.g. rolled such as the Ping Sui Zhucha), died further (such as the Bai Mu Dan) or roasted (e.g. Lung Ching). Often, however, the leaves are put into a large rotating drum where they are dried with the help of a heat stream of about 90°C and loose a large amount of their weight. The withering process is of utmost importance for the future aroma of the tea. Depending on the tea variety and the tradition, the withering and roasting is perhaps repeated a few times until the leaves are dried. Later, the tea is sorted via sieves or, such as the premium teas from China, via hand.

Production process China

Plucking by machine.

Withering via ventilators or, with respect to premium qualities, in the sun. A humidity of 30% is reached after 4-12 hours (pan-fried tea)

Heating or roasting. For 1-10 minutes the leaves are heated to 280°C in the pans. Some teas are also heated mechanically in drums whose walls are heated. The enzymes for the oxidation are converted and deactivated. (Enzymes are proteins produced from living cells which cause chemical reactions without consuming anything (biocatalysts)).

Drying for approximately 8- 12 hours.

Rolling in the machine in between brass plates for approximately 15 minutes.

Drying in rotating pans which are heated to 170°C.

Sorting via machines which separate different leaf sizes with mechanically moving sieves. Premium qualities are still controlled by hand.

Production process Japan

Plucking by hand or machine.
Steaming in cylindrical drums for approximately 2 minutes (= steaming tea).
Drying for approximately 30 minutes in rotating wooden drums at 55°C. Humidity lost: 50 %.
Rolling in the machine for approximately 5 minutes.
Drying for approximately 30 minutes via hot heat.
Polishing on plates which are heated to 90°C. For premium qualitites this is done by hand. This makes the leaves flat and gives them a silky shimmer.
Drying for approximately 20-25 minutes at 60°C. Rest humidity of the tea: 3-4 %.
Sorting takes place during the processing where a special processing machine is used to cut or form the leaves.

 

 

 


No more pages to load