Tea processing basics
The basic sequence for processing freshly picked tea leaves is as follows:
1. Withering
2. Rolling while drying
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It is really that basic. Step one is pretty easy, but step two will frustrate you endlessly.
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Required equipment: A flat surface, at least one working palm of hand, a seedling mat for warmth.
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Withering: When you first pick the leaves, they will be tender, bouncy, and full of moisture (assuming you watered your bushes properly before harvest.) Withering is exactly what it sounds like: you leave the picked leaves out in the sun to wither. Online sources will tell you withering is accomplished in a couple of hours. Depending on the weather when you pick, this can be true or wildly wrong. If it's a hot, clear morning during a heat wave, sure, it will be withered in a couple of hours. But if it's a cool, marine layer morning, or a drizzly late spring day, withering could take two to three times that long. What to look for in withering is that the leaves look, well, wilted. Like those mixed salad greens you left in the fridge too long. Floppy. When first picked, the leaves sit up all bushy and fluffy, and the wind will carry them off if you are not careful. After wilting, they will have sunk down into more of a mat, less likely to grab a passing breeze.
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I have tried not paying careful attention to the withering step. I have tried rushing it. I have tried assuming that because two hours went by, the tea was withered enough, even though it was 62 degrees out and overcast. You have to look at and feel the leaves to know when wilting is done. If you start processing the leaves before they are wilted, you will not get the magic out of the tea. The leaves are too crisp, and when you begin massaging them, you will break the cells too quickly and the magic will remain elusive.
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Troubleshooting withering:
A. Leaves don't wither. Reason: You picked on a cool or cloudy day and it's just going really slowly. Solution: Put them on the heat mat to wither. Don't begin rolling until the leaves are withered.
B. Leaves dry out rather than wither. Reason: You did not sufficiently water your tea plants while they were flushing. Solution: Discard leaves, they cannot be saved. Resolve to do better watering your plants.
Before withering. Leaves are plump with moisture.
After withering. Leaves have collapsed in volume, and flop over when held upright.
Rolling and drying: These processes happen together. Once they are picked, the leaves begin losing moisture. As they lose moisture, you apply the pressure that brings the magic out of the cells. You have to have the right amount of pressure for the right amount of moisture. Professional processors use moisture meters and/ or scales to determine the moisture loss of tea leaves, thus determining when to apply the different stages of the massage. As a home processor, you may want to develop the skill of feeling when the leaves are ready. It is my opinion that this step is the crux of good tea. You can do the very best job of growing the most magnificent tea plants, and if you don't nail this step, you won't have good tea.
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It is also my opinion that in the temperate climate of the Pacific Northwest, you will greatly improve your chances of making good tea by putting a seedling warming mat under a sheet tray and doing your processing on that. Lining the sheet tray with parchment paper makes things especially convenient. Otherwise, typical Northwest room temperatures are too cool for optimal processing. This is why I have listed the seedling mat as required equipment. If you skip the mat, be prepared to put your tea in the compost bin.
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General rolling and drying: Your general rule is to start with lower pressure massage, then slowly increase the massage pressure as the leaves lose moisture, so that by the time the leaves are considerably shrunken from moisture loss, you are applying firm pressure. Much like bread dough goes from shaggy to sticky to smooth as you knead it, your tea leaves will transform as you massage them. They will start smooth and bulky. As you lightly massage them on the heated tray, lifting them up in your hands, gently rolling them, dropping and separating them, repeating, they will start to get slightly tacky. The tackiness lets you know you are releasing the magic from inside the leaf. STAY CALM. If you overdo it, you will raise up the liquor of the leaf, and it will get kind of wet and foamy. That is the magic escaping and being lost. The leaves should never be more than tacky to the touch. Keep lifting and rolling and pressing and separating. The leaves will then go from tacky to silky, finally becoming firmer as they approach complete dryness. This process can take a few hours depending on the kind of tea you are attempting. You do not have to continuously massage the tea. You can walk away, do other things, leave it on the tray on the heat mat, come back later, and give it another massage. Different tea makers have developed their own hand motions for rolling tea. You can discover some of these by searching "hand rolling tea" on YouTube. Be assured that the graduated pressure matters much more than the specific motion. While your tea may not be pretty, it can taste good. Also, this process will make your house smell delightful.
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You will watch as the tea shrinks and rolls on itself. Leaves that stay flat and resist rolling are older leaves. The tenderest buds will roll immediately. The tea will begin to change from a pile of leaves to a pile of threads. This assumes everything has gone right. Which it won't. Because you suck at processing tea. For now.
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Troubleshooting rolling
A. Leaves excessively break apart during rolling. Reason: Leaves have too much moisture. Or is it too little? Solution: Make sure your plants get the moisture they need during the flush to produce tender leaves. Don't leave the leaves out too long to wither, or they will be over-dry. Or, the leaves have too much moisture because you rushed the withering, so let them wither next time.
B. Leaves get wet or foamy. Reason: Too much pressure on the leaf with too high moisture. Solution: remember to gradually increase the pressure as the leaves dry. When you feel them get tacky, back off. Do not raise the liquor. Let them dry a bit more before increasing the pressure.
C. Leaves do not roll, do not assume thread or needle shape, leaves stay flat. Reason: Leaves are too old. Solution: There will likely be a few of these in every homemade batch of tea. You can still make drinkable tea from these older leaves, but they will be considered lower quality, and in a commercial operation would be sorted out, broken up, and put into tea bags. (!) I leave them in my tea, along with the stems. If you are fussy, you can pick them out.
D. Leaves drying too quickly. Reason: You didn't believe me about the seedling mat. I do not understand why, but the seedling mat helps the leaves stay more moist during processing. Solution: Get the mat.
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Basic home tea rolling setup. I work on the stovetop because my counters are granite, which is too cold and renders the heat mat ineffective. Heat mat under a baking tray lined with parchment. The parchment baking paper makes it much easier to handle the tea as it gets tacky, and also to easily transfer dry tea to a storage container.
Tender versus not tender when rolled. The sprig of tea on the left is responding to rolling by assuming the thread shape. The sprig on the right, an older, drier, tougher one, is responding by staying flat and breaking. The one on the right will likely not oxidize well, either, and will produce lower quality tea.
Making green tea
In addition to our basic steps of withering and rolling, there is an in between step for green tea: heating. Within the tea are enzymes that promote oxidation, which is what turns tea leaves brown for black tea. If you want to make green tea, you apply heat to the withered leaves to inactivate the enzymes. This is accomplished by steaming or dry roasting. I have had better success with steaming, so that is what I will describe here.
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Have your withered leaves next to the stove, a digital timer at the ready, and a basic water steamer set up. I use a vegetable steamer basket in a dutch oven kind of pan. It is better to steam the leaves in small batches than to have the leaves be in too thick of a layer so the steam cannot penetrate. Bring the water to a rolling boil so you begin to see steam coming out around the lid. Take the lid off, quickly dump the leaves into the steamer, quickly put the lid on, and steam for 90 to 120 seconds. (I prefer 120.) Take the lid off, and immediately remove the leaves from the heat and spread them out on your parchment lined mat.Treat steamed leaves extra gently at the start of the rolling process. They are wetter, and you can easily raise and lose the liquor. Let them dry a bit on the tray before handling. Then proceed gently.
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After the steaming step, rolling and drying proceed according to the general directions.
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Troubleshooting green tea:
A. Tea brewed is clear in color and without much flavor. Reason: you did not get the magic out of the leaves. Solution: Fix your process. If you tried dry roasting, try steaming instead. Be more diligent with rolling and drying. Green teas must still be rolled!
B: Dried leaves look black. Reason: You roasted and/ or dried the tea over heat on your stove. Solution: Maybe it's a problem, maybe it isn't. Dry cooking will darken the leaves, but they will still be "green." Brew them up, anyway. You may find when you pour the hot water on, the green color is revealed.
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Making black tea
Black tea is made when the cells of the leaves are slowly broken, allowing enzymes inside to oxidize the compounds in the tea. (This process is often referred to as fermentation.) Oxidation/ fermentation is a very fussy process that is fraught with pitfalls and potential for error. While I initially thought green tea was harder to make at home, I have changed my position and now consider black tea to be trickier. The process sounds simple: you start with a pile of withered tea leaves, then you just roll them and they turn black as they dry. Oh, how I wish that were true! So many things can go wrong!
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Let's first describe a good oxidation/ fermentation process. As the leaves are subjected to pressure during rolling, the color begins to change from bright green to copper brown. The color change spreads quickly across the leaves, without patchiness. The color change is complete within about two hours.
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Troubleshooting black tea:
A: Very little color change. Reason: Leaves are too dry, either because the plant was too dry, or you let them wither too long. Solution: Keep your plants watered and keep a better eye on the withering. You may be able to salvage a batch by spritzing them with clean water. I have been able to nurse oxidation along this way. You don't often get good tea that way, though. It's far better to start with properly hydrated leaves.
B: Oxidation is going, but is taking too long. Reason: You didn't believe me about the seedling mat. Solution: Get the seedling mat. Typical northwest room temperatures are not high enough for a brisk oxidation process. The enzymes have an optimal temperature range for function. Supplemental heat is extremely helpful.
C: Leaves drying too quickly. Reason: You didn't believe me about the seedling mat. Solution: Get the seedling mat. This is a phenomena I don't fully understand. The oxidation process generates heat, and this dries out the leaves. However, having the seedling mat somehow helps the leaves stay more moist. I don't get it! But there it is.
Good oxidation versus bad. The leaf on the left was picked at the right time. It is responding to rolling by oxidizing throughout the leaf, producing the desirable copper hue. The leaf on the right was too mature at picking. It is oxidizing only along the cracks created by rolling. Lots of mashing may get nearly full oxidation in the leaf of the right, but it will break into tiny pieces. Broken tea of that sort is of low quality and generally only fit for tea bags. There is of course a place in the world for tea bags!. There is no reason to discard the leaf on the right unless oxidation just plain fails.
A word about oolong
Oolong teas are made by permitting oxidation, but only part way. The point at which oxidation is stopped by the application of heat is the critical part of oolong tea craft. I have no advice for making oolong tea.