Tea Processing

Tea Processing is the traditional method by which leaves from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, are transformed into the dried leaves used for brewing tea. The categories of tea, such as green, black, oolong, and pu erh, are distinguished by the processing the leaves undergo, which in its most general form involves different manners and degrees of oxidation, halting that oxidation, forming the leaf, and drying it. The flavor of the finished tea is shaped by the cultivar used, the quality of the plucked leaves, and the manner and quality of this processing, and for black, pu erh, and oolong teas the processing serves the additional purpose of encouraging oxidation to further develop flavor and aroma.