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Tea Origins

Tea Production Lifecycle

1. Planting

Tea plant or Camellia Sinensis, is a product of the Camellia plant family. Location, altitude, climate and seasonal changes are the most important factors that determine the nature of the plant. Absolute requirements include plenty of water and light. Ideal climate offers temperature ranging between 13ºC and 35ºC, rainfall of about 2-2.3m and altitude of between 300m and 2100m above sea level (1200m-1800m considered most suitable). Young plants are tended in the nursery for about 6 to 20 months before being cultivated into the tea garden in a space measuring between 1 and 1.5 m². The new plants are then left unplucked and unpruned until they reach their maturity in approximately 2 years.

2. Harvesting
The plucking period varies by regions, but is usually in early spring and late spring/early summer. Autumn or winter harvest is possible when the climate permits. Tea picking is mainly done by hand since in most tea-growing regions labour costs are not prohibitive and/or tea is grown on mountain slopes. However, in the parts of the world where the labour is too expensive or simply not available, the tea-leaves are harvested mechanically.

	3. Withering
	Withering is carried out to remove most of the moisture from the leaves. This results in loss of excess water. Withering can be done either by simply leaving under the sun or by putting it in a cool room. The room temperature, depth of the tea pile in the container and even the rate of air passing through the air will influence the quality of the tea.

4. Rolling

At this stage leaves are rolled according to the processing method and the type of tea. Green tea (and some Black tea) leaves are rolled in an orthodox manner, which is widely used in China, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. In an orthodox method, the leaves are rolled in a special machine that presses and twists the leaves to break the cells inside which releases a juice that starts the oxidation method. The other method, CTC (Cut, Tear, Curl), is also used for Black tea processing, It gives a small-leafed tea that brews quickly and has a strong flavour. The leaves are passed through rollers with small blades to tear and break them into tiny particles for use as a teabag blend.


	5. Oxidation
	Oxidation involves the leaves being spread out in cool humid air for about 3-4 hours and left to oxidise. The leaves gradually turn darkish and begin to develop its flavour and aroma. Amount of oxidation depends on the type of tea. Green tea is not oxidised at all. Black tea, on the other hand, is oxidised to higher levels till the point at which the leaves turn black.

6. Firing

Firing is done to arrest the oxidation process. The oxidative enzymes are deactivated carefully without changing the taste or flavour of the tea. The leaves are steamed (or baked) on a rapidly moving conveyor belt inside a large dryer where the temperature ranges between 115ºC-120ºC. The process is also used to dry the Green tea.


	7. Post-Processing
	Finally, the leaves are sorted into grades according their sizes (whole leaf, brokens, fannings and dust) and weight. The tea is then ready for packaging and begins its journey into the world market.