What is the method of making tea

Tea has a long history and there are many types of tea. Generally, there are more tea-producing areas in the south because its climate is suitable for the growth of tea. There are very few places to grow tea in the north. So how much do we all know about tea? Do you know how tea is made? Let's take a look at how tea is made.

1. Screening: Use mesh bamboo sieves to classify the picked fresh leaves according to different varieties of fresh leaves, sunny leaves and rainy leaves, fresh leaves picked in the morning and fresh leaves picked in the afternoon, remove broken leaves and other foreign matter, and place them separately.

2. Spread the sieved fresh leaves in turn on a ventilated and clean bamboo dustpan basket indoors. The thickness should be (5-10) cm. Rainwater leaves or fresh leaves with high water content should be spread thinly, while sunny leaves or fresh leaves used at noon or afternoon should be spread thickly. Turn them over gently every 1 hour or so. The indoor temperature should be below 25℃ and avoid sunlight. The spreading time should be controlled at (2-6) hours according to the grade of fresh leaves. When the green smell is gone, the leaves become soft, and the water loss of fresh leaves is about 10%, they can be processed. The fresh leaves of the day should be processed on the same day.

3. Raw pot

A special iron pot for frying tea is used, with a pot mouth diameter of 84cm (polished and smooth beforehand to be rust-free). The raw pot is tilted at about 35°, and the front of the pot platform is about 40cm high for easy operation. The back wall is more than 1m high and fits closely to the wall. Use dry firewood as fuel for the raw pot. The pot temperature should be (140-160)℃. Put about 500g of fresh leaves into each pot. Test the pot temperature with the palm of your hand, with the palm (3-5) cm away from the center of the pot. Put fresh leaves in when it feels hot. Use a tea handle (a round broom made of soft bamboo branches) to pick up the green leaves repeatedly at a slightly faster speed. After (3-4) minutes, when the green leaves are soft, use the tip of the tea handle to gather the green leaves, and gently rub them in circles in the pot (use the tea handle to rotate the tea leaves that have been withered appropriately in the pot naturally along the tilt of the pot). The action should be from light to slow and gradually increase to heavy and fast. Shake and pick up the leaves from time to time, and repeat. The green leaves further soften and curl up, initially forming loose strips, and the tender stems cannot be broken. Then use a tea handle to sweep all the tea leaves into the cooking pot as quickly as possible. The cooking time is (7-10) minutes, and the moisture content of the tea leaves is about 55%. For fresh leaves wet by rain or dew, the fire temperature should be raised by (10-15)℃, and they should be turned and shaken frequently. Young leaves contain more moisture, so the fire temperature should be slightly higher and the movements should be gentle.

4. Cook the pot

It has the same specifications as the raw pot, is arranged side by side with the raw pot, and is inclined at 40°. The operation starts immediately after receiving the tea leaves from the raw pot. The pot temperature is (80-100)℃. Start by still using the tea handle and use the tip of the handle to break up the tea ball first, then use the tip of the handle to roll the tea leaves, continue "wrapping and kneading", loosen them from time to time, and repeat this process. After about (3-4) minutes, the tea leaves will further shrink, and the tea handle should be slightly flattened to start "driving the leaves". When the tea leaves are slightly tight and straight and do not stick to each other, use your hand to "arrange the leaves" (palm down, thumb and index finger slightly open into an "eight" shape, and the other three fingers together with the index finger, slightly bent inward, to form a tiger's mouth shape for grabbing things. Grab some tea leaves in the pot and hold them tightly until your palm is full. Then, at a height of about 10 cm from the center of the pot, use your wrist to throw some of the tea leaves in your hand out of the "tiger's mouth", scatter them and throw them onto the upper edge of the tea pot. The tea leaves will naturally roll back to the center of the pot along the slanted pot). Repeat this process until a tight, straight and smooth appearance is gradually formed. The whole process takes about (7-10) minutes. When the moisture content is about 30%, immediately clean it out of the pot and spread it on a dustpan.

The above introductions are the methods of making tea. Do we understand these methods? Good tea has to go through thousands of processes to be produced, so for many tea farmers, the tea harvest season is both a hard and happy thing for them. Thanks to their hard work, we can drink different types of tea. So we should also be grateful for the hard work of these people.