Tea Fundamentals III

Part three of our three-tier Tea Fundamentals Course focuses on the third pillar of teamaking: the processing or crafting of the tea leaves into fine tea. In previous parts we discussed the first two pillars: terroir and cultivar. The process of making the best teas involves a series of meticulous steps designed to optimize and preserve the flavor and aroma of the leaves. These steps vary depending on the type of tea being produced, but they all share a common goal: to create the perfect balance of taste and aroma.

Harvesting and sorting, withering, rolling and oxidation, more sorting and firing all are important steps in the tea process; we'll discuss them all using examples of each tea category as illustration. For green tea we focus on Xi Hu Long Jing, yellow tea is represented by Huang Ya, we have wild Bai Hao Yin Zhen for the white category, Song Zhong and Shui Xian for dan cong wu long and yan cha wu long respectively, Chi Gan for red tea and finally Ban Po Lao Zhai for pu er.

In the last part before we'll quiz you about essential topics regarding tea, we'll share some knowledge about how to properly evaluate teas of different caliber and blind taste test some teas.