How Tea Is Made

Some tea producers who specialize in black teas still use the traditional methods of manufacture that they learned from the Chinese, rolling and twisting the leaf by hand or in large rolling machines to make what we call ‘orthodox’ leaf. Other manufacturers focus on making small leafed teas for tea bags by what we call the CTC (cut, tear and curl) method of production, chopping the leaf down into very small particles that brew quickly and give a strong, colory liquor.

In some countries, teas are still made by hand but more and more machinery is being introduced to allow larger quantities of tea to be manufactured more easily and more quickly and efficiently with fewer workers.

White Teas

As their elegant name suggests, ‘white’ teas have a beautiful silvery-white appearance from the tiny little silvery hairs that cover the bud as it pushes its way out of the tip of each new tea shoot. Traditionally, white teas are made in China’s Fujian Province from the fat new leaf buds and very young leaves gathered from the ‘Da Bai’ or ‘Big White’ variety of the tea bush. However, some white teas are today made from the young buds and leaves of other varietals that grow in other tea producing countries.

White teas are made by plucking the buds and young leaves and then simply drying them, often in the sun. When they are infused in hot water, they give a delicate, pale liquor that is the color of champagne and has a very soft, almost sweet flavor with hints of melon or pear.

Green Teas

To make green teas, young leaves and leaf buds are gathered from the tea bushes and are steamed or pan-fired to kill any enzymes that would cause the leaves to oxidize during manufacture. Then they are rolled and shaped by hand or by machine and dried to remove all but 2-3% of their water content.

Steamed green teas often have a taste and smell similar to fresh-mown grass or hints of seaweed. Pan-fired green have a more mellow, slightly sweeter, smoother character.

Oolong Teas

To produce oolong teas, freshly plucked leaves and buds are allowed to wither to remove about 30% of their water content. Next, they are tumbled in a large drum, shaken on bamboo baskets or gently rolled inside a large cotton cloth to lightly bruise part, but not all, of the leaves’ surface. When the leaves are then laid out for a short time in a cool room, the juices released from the bruised parts of the leaf react with oxygen in the air and turn a reddy-brown color and develop a different aroma and taste from green or white teas. Some oolongs are oxidized only 30%, other are 70% oxidized. To finish the process, the leaves are dried to remove all but 2-3% of the remaining water.

The taste and aroma of oolong teas can vary from a light fragrant narcissus character to a dark, slightly earthy flavor with hints of peach or apricot.

Black Teas

The manufacturing procedure for making black teas is more complicated than for other teas. Newly-harvested laves and leaf buds are allowed to wither to allow about 30% of their water content to evaporate and then the leaves are rolled or cut into smaller pieces to release the natural juices inside the cells. The cut or rolled leaf is then allowed to fully oxidize in cool air until it has turned to a coppery brown color and has developed the fruity, pungent smell we associate with black tea. This oxidation is stopped by drying the leaf in very hot ovens.

The taste and aroma of black tea can vary from rich and strong to light and slightly earthy, depending on where the tea has been grown and how it has been manufactured.

Flavored Teas

Any type of tea – white, green, oolong or black – can be flavored by adding other ingredients such as dried pieces of fruit, flower petals, pieces of spice or dried herbs. These additional flavorings are carefully blended with the tea after the tea has been manufactured in the normal way. Sometimes flavoring granules or essential oils are also mixed with the tea to give a lasting balanced flavor and quality.