Tea is made from the leaves and buds of the tea plant. It originated in China and was first consumed as a medicinal drink before becoming a daily beverage. Tea cultivation spread to other Asian countries like Japan and India under colonial influence and is now grown globally. There are three main types of tea based on processing: fermented black tea, non-fermented green tea, and semi-fermented oolong tea. Tea production involves growing the tea plant, hand picking the leaves, withering and processing the leaves through rolling, fermenting, and drying to produce the final tea leaves which are then sorted, graded and packaged for consumption.
Tea is made from the leaves and buds of the tea plant. It originated in China and was first consumed as a medicinal drink before becoming a daily beverage. Tea cultivation spread to other Asian countries like Japan and India under colonial influence and is now grown globally. There are three main types of tea based on processing: fermented black tea, non-fermented green tea, and semi-fermented oolong tea. Tea production involves growing the tea plant, hand picking the leaves, withering and processing the leaves through rolling, fermenting, and drying to produce the final tea leaves which are then sorted, graded and packaged for consumption.
Tea is made from the leaves and buds of the tea plant. It originated in China and was first consumed as a medicinal drink before becoming a daily beverage. Tea cultivation spread to other Asian countries like Japan and India under colonial influence and is now grown globally. There are three main types of tea based on processing: fermented black tea, non-fermented green tea, and semi-fermented oolong tea. Tea production involves growing the tea plant, hand picking the leaves, withering and processing the leaves through rolling, fermenting, and drying to produce the final tea leaves which are then sorted, graded and packaged for consumption.
Tea is made from the leaves and buds of the tea plant. It originated in China and was first consumed as a medicinal drink before becoming a daily beverage. Tea cultivation spread to other Asian countries like Japan and India under colonial influence and is now grown globally. There are three main types of tea based on processing: fermented black tea, non-fermented green tea, and semi-fermented oolong tea. Tea production involves growing the tea plant, hand picking the leaves, withering and processing the leaves through rolling, fermenting, and drying to produce the final tea leaves which are then sorted, graded and packaged for consumption.
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Tea
From Tea Estate to our Kitchen
Varoon Desai
Introduction A beverage which is made by stepping in freshly boiled water the young leaves and buds of tea plant. There are two varieties of tea – (a) Small leaved China tea ( b) Large leaved Assam tea. According to the legend, tea was discovered or made first time in China during 7200 BCE. Initially it was a medical beverage produced by boiling stems and buds of tea plants . Later in 3 rdcentury , it was consider as daily drink and tea cultivation and processing began. The first published account of methods of planting, processing, and drinking came in 350 CE. Around 800 the first seeds were brought to Japan, where cultivation became established by the 13th century. Chinese from Amoy brought tea cultivation to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) in 1810. Tea cultivation in Java began under the Dutch, who brought seeds from Japan in 1826 and seeds, workers, and implements from China in 1833.
In 1824 tea plants were discovered in the hills along the frontier between Burma and the Indian state of Assam. The British introduced tea culture into India in 1836 and into Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1867. At first they used seeds from China, but later seeds from the Assam plant were used. The Dutch East India Company carried the first consignment of China tea to Europe in 1610. In 1669 the English East India Company brought China tea from ports in Java to the London market. Later, teas grown on British estates in India and Ceylon reached Mincing Lane, the centre of the tea trade in London. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tea growing had spread to Russian Georgia, Sumatra and Iran and extended to nonAsian countries such as Natal, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Tanzania and Mozambique in Africa, to Argentina, Brazil and Peru in South America and to Queensland in Australia.
Classification The teas are classified according to the region of origin, as in China, Ceylon, Japanese, Indonesian and African tea or by smaller district like Darjeeling , Assam , Nilgris etc. The teas can be also classified by the size of the processed tea leaf. Traditional operations result in larger leafy grades and smaller broken grades. The leafy grades are flowery pekoe (FP), orange pekoe (OP), pekoe (P), pekoe souchong (PS), and souchong (S). The broken grades are: broken orange pekoe (BOP), broken pekoe (BP), BOP fanning, fanning’s, and dust. In the modern commercial grading , 90% to 100% of production belongs to broken grade , whereas earlier a sustainable amount of leafy grades were produced. The most important classification is by their manufacturing process , resulting in 3 categories – fermented (black) , non – fermented (green) and semifermented (oolong).
Primary Industry Growing the tea plant ( tea leaves is the raw material ) Tea requires a moderately hot and humid climate. Climate influences yield, crop distribution and quality. Therefore, before cultivating tea in a new area, the suitability of the climate is the first point to be considered. Tea grows best on well-drained fertile acid soil on high lands. The tea bushes are planted during monsoons as tea plant growth requires a lot of water at the initial stage. Regular application of folio , which is a mixture of chemicals like zinc and magnesium which is essential for the growth of these bushes and their health. The tea are almost plucked throughout the year. Especially the growth is more during the time of post monsoons. The tea leaves are hand plucked by hundreds of working women , hand plucking is an traditional method to pluck the leaves (it is said about 21 kgs of tea is plucked by a single working woman) . The hand plucked tea leaves are transported to nearest factory to process the tea leave. Secondary Industry Processing of leaves of tea plant Here we are going to discuss about the how to process the fermented tea or the black tea.
The tea leaves goes through 4 processes which are:-
1. Withering 2. Rolling 3. Fermentation 4. Drying
1. WITHERING Plucking the leaves initiates the withering stage , in which the leaves become flaccid and lose it moisture , from a fresh moisture content of 70 to 80 % by weight , it arrives to withered content of 55 to 70 % of moisture , depending upon the type of process. In traditional process , the fresh leaf is spread by hands in thin layers onto a tray or section of coarse fabric called tats. It is then allowed to wither for 18 to 20 hours , depending on the several factors like temperature and humidity of air and size of the moisture content on the leaf. Withering in the open air has been replaced by various mechanized systems. In trough withering , air is forced through a thick layer of leaves on a mesh in a trough. In drum withering , rotating ,perforated drums are used in place of troughs. In tunnel withering, leaf is spread on tats carried by mobile trolleys and is subjected to hot-air blasts in a tunnel. Continuous withering machine moves the leaves on convey belt and subject it to hot air in an enclosed chamber, discharging withered leaf while fresh leaf is simultaneously loaded. Mechanized system reduce the time and saves the time , but they also reduce the quality of the final product by reducing the time for chemical withering , during which the protein and the carbohydrates break down into simpler substance like amino acids and sugar , and there is increase in level of caffeine and polyphenols.
2. ROLLING At this stage , the withered leaf are distorted , acquiring the distinctive twist of the finished tea leaf , and the leaf cell burst and result in mixture in enzymes and polyphenols. The traditional method is to roll the leaves between the hand or with hand on a table until is all twisted and coated with juices and finally broken in pieces. The rolling machine consist a table fitted in the centre with a cone and across the surface with slats called battens. A jacket , or a bottomless circular box with pressure cap , stand at top of the table . Table and the jacket move in an established circular pattern in opposite directions , the leaf placed in the jacket is rolled and twisted over the cone and battens , which is similar to the traditional method . The lump of rolled leaves are broken into pieces and sifted. The smaller leaf passing through the sieve—called the fines—is transferred to the fermentation room, and the remaining coarse leaf is rolled again. In many countries different kind of machine are there to roll the tea leaves. In legg cutter machine ( actually a tobacco cutter machine ) , the leaf is forced through a aperture and cut the leaf into strips. The cutting ,tearing and crashing machine (CTC) , which consist of two roller place together closely , which revolve at an unequal speed , which cut tear and roll the leaf. thenon traditional machines can burst the cells of the leaf so thoroughly that in some cases withering is not essential. But unlike traditional method , they do not produce large leafy grade of the tea. 3. FERMENTATION The process of fermentation starts when the cells of the leaf are broken down during the process of rolling and continues when the rolled leaf is spread on a tables or a perforated aluminum tray , under controlled conditions – temperature , humidity , aeration . The process is not actually fermentation but a series of chemical reaction taking place . The most important reaction is oxidation by polyphenol oxidase of some polyphenol onto a compounds that combines with other polyphenols to form orange –red compound called the aflavins . The the aflavins react with more units to form thearubigins , which is responsible for the dark brown colour. The the arubigins also react with amino acid and sugar to form flavor compounds .in general , the aflavins is associated with a strong taste and the arubigins is associated with strong coppery or dark brown colour.
In traditional fermentation , it takes 2 to 4 hours for optimum fermentation . This time can be halved in fermenting broken leaf by the legg cutter and CTC machine. In skip fermentation , the leaf is spread on an aluminium skip , or boxes with screened bottoms. Larger boxes are used in trough fermentation and in continuous fermentation the leaf is spread on a conveyor system. In all of this fermentation system the leaf is aerated by forced air and it is automated brought to the dryer. 4. DRYING At this stage , the heat inactivate the polyphenol enzymes and dries the leaf to a moisture content of 3% . The heat also caramelize the sugar which add flavour to the tea , and imparts the black colour of the fermented tea. Traditionally the leaf was dried on large pans or on screens or fire , but since 19 th century heated force air has been used. In a mechanized drier , there is a large chamber at the bottom which blows hot air and the leaf is fed up from the top on a series of descending conveyor. The dried leaf are soon cooled to prevent over drying and loss of quantity. Modern innovations on the drier are hot feed drier, where hot air is supplied separately to feeder to arrest fermentation immediately as the leaf is fed , and the fluid bed where the leaf moves from one end of the chamber to the other over a perforated plate in a liquid fashion. Tertiary Industry The final procedure Packaging The first step of packaging is sorting and grading .first the tea is graded according to the size , shape and cleanliness. This is carried out by mechanical sieves or sifters fitted with meshes of appropriate size. When there is high demand of small sized tea , the tea particles are broken down or cut again at this stage to get higher proportion of broken grade. Undesirable particles are removed modern technology machine or in some case traditional method is used which is picking the particles with hands. Then the sorted tea particles are sent to the packing factory. In the packing factory the tea is packed in an air-tight container in order to prevent the absorption of moisture , which is a major reason or principle cause in loss of taste. Packaging chest are usually constructed with ply wood and lined with aluminum foil . Storing and Transportation The tea chest are stored in warehouse with perfect conditions , a dry and cool environment is arranged to store the tea chest. The tea chest are transported through road , air and railway transportation throughout the county.
Flow- chart of all the activities from producer to consumers
