The Tea Harvest

In the tea cultivation countries, generally only the upper leaf bud and the next two leaves, the youngest ones of a spout ("two leaves and a bud") are plucked. Further, i.e. older leaves than these generally have a negative influence on the quality of the finished tea.

In the higher up, cooler regions, the tea naturally grows slower. This enables the particularly fine, automatic character to enfold. The harvesting time also has a significant influence on the quality of the tea. The plucking requires a large amount of care as well as skill and is often done by women. The average plucking capacity amounts to approximately 16 - 24 kg of green leaves per day. This amount yields 4 - 6 kg of finished tea. Two to three times a day, the green leaves are transported to the factory on the plantation. The green, fresh leaves are still entirely neutral in scent and first have to be treated in the tea factory, passing through various production steps, in oder to create an aromatic tea.

 

 

Processing

As opposed to coffee, which is imported as green coffee and receives its final form in the country of consumption via sorting and roasting, tea is already processed on the plantations in the country of orgin and then exported in its final form. The most important phases of the treatment with respect to orthodox tea production (which can be used for the production of any type of tea desired as opposed to the later explained CTC production) are: withering, rolling, fermenting, drying and sorting into leaf and broken grades, i.e. sizes.