Tea Picking

In Taiwan’s high mountain tea areas and sloping tea plantations, most of the tea is picked by hand. The way to pick tea is to hold the middle part of the young stems between the leaves with the index and thumb, and use the elastic force of the two fingers to break the leaves. The tea tree can be picked several times a year, when the buds and leaves elongate to a heart of five or six leaves, that is, a heart of two to three leaves can be picked for tea production, picking time to 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm before the best, picking the tea elite should be put in a cool and ventilated place, to avoid extrusion to maintain the freshness of the tea elite. 

sun withering

Sunlight wilting is a process in which the tea cyanobacteria are spread on cloth or hats and wilted under sunlight to promote the evaporation of water and fermentation. The degree of wilting is determined by the glossiness of the second or first leaf of the tea cyanobacteria; the leaf surface is wavy, soft to the touch, and the aroma of tea is reduced by 8% to 15%, indicating that the proper degree of wilting has been achieved.

Indoor withering and stirring

Indoor static withering and stirring is to continue the fermentation caused by sunlight withering or hot air withering, so that the tea leaves continue to part of the fermentation, and produce the unique taste and aroma of the tea, and use the slight force of both hands to turn the leaves, so that the green cells of the tea leaves will be damaged due to friction, and air can easily enter the flesh cells of the leaves to promote fermentation.

Purification & heat shaping

To kill cyanide (heating type) is to use high temperature to destroy the activity of enzyme, inhibit the fermentation of tea leaves, so as to keep the unique taste and aroma of the bagged tea, and make the leaves soft due to the reduction of water content, so as to facilitate the subsequent rolling operation. The time varies according to the nature of the tea leaves and the amount of input, but generally it is enough to fry the tea leaves until they have no odor and taste, and the tea leaves are soft, flexible and aromatic in the hand.

Tune and rolling

Twisting is the application of mechanical force to make the tea leaves rotate and rub against each other, cause the buds and leaves part of the tissue cell destruction, juice outflow attached to the surface of the buds and leaves, after drying and solidification, it is easy to brew and dissolve. In addition, it also has the function of shaping, making the tea leaves curl into strips.

Evaporation drying (retrieval)

Initial drying after killing the cyanide (back to the source), using the high temperature to stop the residual enzyme activity of the fried cyanide, so that the tea leaves are no longer fermented, and the quality of tea leaves is fixed and the drying is used to remove the odor and astringency of the cyanide and improve the aroma and taste of tea leaves.

Cloth ball twisting

The cloth ball rolling, also known as “dum rolling”, is an important process in the formation of spherical or hemispherical tea bags. The tea leaves are wrapped in a special cloth towel or ball bag, and then rolled by hand or machine to form a ball. The cloth is spread out from time to time to loosen the tea leaves to dissipate heat.

Unravel

Unravel,After the fresh leaves have been twisted, separate the tea leaves as soon as possible and lower the temperature quickly to avoid boring taste and dryness, which will lead to sourness. After rolling the fresh leaves, separate the unraveled leaves as soon as possible and lower the temperature quickly to avoid stuffiness, under-drying and sourness.

Dry finished product

The tea leaves are repeatedly twisted and unshaped, and then put into the circulating hot air dryer for drying.

Delicate baking

The tea leaves must be re-dried before packaging to reduce moisture, which ensures quality during storage on the one hand and complements the aroma by roasting on the other.

1105-1-PNG

Product packaging