Lu Yu, the Chinese patron saint of tea, describes manufactured tea leaves as “crinkles on a Mongol’s boots or dewlap of an Ox.” How do tender green leaves turn dark-coloured and potent in flavour?
Before mechanisation changed the process of manufacturing, tea was purely hand-made: sun-dried, steamed and hand-rolled. Today, with the exception of some very expensive specialty teas the majority of the produce is machine-made. It is a five-stage process where the harvest is withered, rolled, fermented, fired, sorted and graded.
Fine plucking is about hand-plucking “two leaves and a bud”. They are left to wither on troughs under hovering hot air. The wilted leaves are then rolled under weight that ruptures leaf cells bringing juices to the fore. The third or critical stage is fermentation where oxidation helps enzymes react, building flavour and turning the green leaf coppery. Flavour builds between a certain time and diminishes thereafter. Firing, the next step, arrests oxidation and stops over-fermentation. The tea is now a mix of big, small, broken powder bits. It is sorted, graded and packed.
Alexander MacGowan, the famous war journalist and a tea drinker expressed surprise at the elaborate processes behind his favourite brew. He said, “This turmoil seems quite incompatible with the peaceful product whose refreshing qualities fortunately survive the rough passage which calls them forth”.
Green tea with mint
Make green tea infusion. Add honey, fresh mint leaves, lemon juice and ice. Serve cold.
