Varieties of Tea

The next step in the story of tea is the actual process of changing the magic leaves into the makings of a wonderful cup of happiness. After plucking, all the tea leaves are brought to the tea factory, and from here there are a number of different paths a tea leaf may take, all very different, which is why now I think it's time to explore the different kinds of tea!

We'll start off with the world - widely popular black tea. The leaves arrive at the tea factory and are spread out on mats in the sun for vapourisation, or, as in more modern times, warm air is blown over the leaves. This is the drying process and it takes 60% of the moisture out of the leaves, strengthening and preserving them. This is called drying. Next the leaves are rolled using a rolling machine. The purpose of this is to further remove the liquid from the leaf, to ready the tea for fermentation and oxidisation which are coming next!
Fermentation is essentially what makes black tea black. It is done by exposing the leaves to humid currents of air, to bind the enzymes within the leaves to the oxygen in the air. This will take about 3 hours to complete. Finally there is another drying session which stops the leaves from oxidising too much and is similar to the first drying. At the end of all this, you have some lovely processed black tea leaves to brew!


Green tea (which is my favourite kind!) is next. All these different kinds of tea come from the same kind of tea plant, interestingly. Tea leaves destined to become green tea are first laid out on bamboo mats in the sun for a few hours, like black tea. The next stage is roasting, in which the leaves undergo a stir-frying like operation is a giant pan to allow extra moisture to evaporate and give it its unique flavour. Then the leaves are rolled, but unlike black tea this is done manually as it must be done very gently since the leaves are so delicate. Finally they are heated again and this gives the leaves their shape. And there you have some beautiful green tea.

Now for white tea. White tea is rare and it can be very expensive. It has a very light, delicate texture and soft taste. It receives almost no processing, but the buds are harvested before they are ripe and open. This sets it apart from all the other teas. In the factory, the buds are sun-dried and that is all. This preserves the delicate and refreshing flavour of this tea. It is produced in small quantities, since it is so expensive.

Oolong tea is interesting because it is said to have a flavour between that of black and green tea. The processing is very similar to that of black tea. They are dried on mats for a short period of time, and then there is a process called bruising. This involves placing the leaves in a big basket and shaking it about for a while. This bruises the edges of the leaves which is the main difference between Oolong tea and other teas, because the bruising begins the oxidisation process. However, we don't want them to oxidise too much, so the leaves are brought to the firing room to stop the oxidisation. Finally, they are dried again.

Well, there you have the four main teas and their processing methods. Also, many variations on these teas are available, flavours such as green tea with mint, black tea with citrus and many more.