The Black Tea Process

By Mark “Dr. Tea” Ukra, Tea Expert

The traditional black tea process involves six main processes which are similar in nature to the Oolong tea process. Withering, rolling, fermenting, drying.

1. Plucking: Plucker’s in the fields, pluck the two leaves and a bud.

2. Withering: The leaves are then taken into the plantation where they are spread out in the open for several hours on bamboo trays, and if the grade of tea is exemplary, like a bud only black tea, then the withering takes place in the shade so the heat of the sun does not evaporate any of the fine Hao of the buds. At this point in the process the leaves give off a wonderfully sweet fruit (apple) fragrance.

3. Rolling:

a. The rolling process usually starts with the leaves being tossed in bamboo baskets by hand by trained workers.

b. Most of the rolling of quality tea is still done by hand. This takes place by individual workers going over the tray as many as three to four hundred times rolling the tea leaves between their palms and the bamboo trays.

c. This process bruises the leaves and starts the oxidation process by breaking down the membranes of the leaves which bring together the chemical substances called CATEHINS and POLYPHENOLS which activates the oxidation process.

d. After the rolling the leaves are then separated by a roll breaker to allow for the full oxidation of the tea leaves.

4. Fermentation / Oxidation:

a. This process goes on for several hours while the leaves are spread out in a cool place.

b. The bruised leaves are now consuming oxygen which activates enzymes to create essential oils and cause the chemical change of the polyphenols into tannins, which affect the teas color and all important taste.

c. Leaves oxidized longer during this stage produce a tea with more color and less taste (the tannins are released and the taste is lessened).

d. During this stage the leaves are turning red around the edges and smell like almonds.

5. Drying / Pan Firing:

a. Carried out in large metal woks over an open fire, the tea leaves are placed into the open copper woks and stir fried. The use of wood, gas, or charcoal to make the fires will affect the taste.

b. This process stops the oxidation process.

c. This step can also be done, as it is in some plantations by placing the leaves into large ovens at a temperature of 194 degrees Farenheit or 90 degrees centigrade. The leaves are now eighty percent dry, or so, but do not have any defined flavor being partially dried in the oven. So, they are removed from the ovens placed again into the woks over charcoal or wood fires until completely dry. The use of different firing methods and at different temperatures creates the distinguished tastes among the black teas.

d. Sorting & Blending: The next to last step is to sort the leaves by size for future placement. The Tea Master, only separates the tea leaves for sale. The finer grades are separated and kept together, like our Yunan Gold at the TG. The lesser grades are then blended by the Tea Master, like the expert blending of different scotches to make a blended scotch like Chivas Regal, until the correct blend of tea leaves are combined assuring the Tea Master of consistency of taste, nose, and color.