Resources
Using search engines for information on processing tea
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When I first started growing tea, there was very little information on the web about cultivation and home processing. Most tea information was factory tours and woefully incomplete visits to traditional Japanese tea manufacturers. Since then, a lot more information has become available. Finding it does require some search engine finesse.
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General tea search terms do not tend to yield satisfying instructional material. You will get better results searching specific phrases. For example, rather than searching "how to make tea," you need to search "how to process tea at home." If steaming green tea is going badly, search, "how long to steam tea leaves." The more your search terms reflect the specific part of the process that is bothering you, the closer you will get to the information you need.
Resources I've found useful
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Book: "Tea: A textbook of tea planting and manufacture," by David Crole. Bibliobazaar has reprinted this text from 1897. David Crole was the English manager of a tea garden and factory in Assam. His text is by far the most complete description of tea cultivation I have ever come across. While his operation used a combination of human labor and factory equipment, his detailed, scientific, and technical descriptions of the phases of tea processing were critical in helping me understand why my tea was failing. Be warned this book is about 60% great information and 40% appalling English imperial racism.
https://www.amazon.com/Tea-Planting-Manufacture-Affecting-Elsewhere/dp/1293370878
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Video showing hand rolling of tea in Kenya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd8IweCKn5k
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Video showing hand rolling of tea in Japan. There is a lot of detail on hand-rolling given in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZYFFQ2jwUE
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Video showing steaming of tea leaves for Japanese green tea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-W8QIgthi8
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Monograph from the Hawaii Extension Service on the cultivation and processing of tea
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/nph-9.pdf
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Website with helpful information on the how steaming time affects the properties of green tea, and other information about the processing of Japanese-style green teas.
http://www.itoen-global.com/allabout_greentea/production_processing.html
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Super cheesy but informative video that matches moisture reduction with stages of rolling. With a scale, you could use this information to do precise rolling of all tea types.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iqk9xTUGeo
Hopefully this will get you started. There are more and more online resources available every year.
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Vendors I like
An incomplete list of vendors with products I like
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Tao of Tea
This Portland company has championed tea since 1997. This is where I go to find the broadest offerings of Chinese and Indian teas, plus teas from other parts of the world. Their teahouse operations are unique in that each tea is served with its appropriate teaware, and you can be instructed in proper appreciation of certain unique teas.
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Steven Smith Teamaker
Another Portland company, I admire Steven Smith primary for two things: blended black teas, and the best bagged jasmine tea widely available. Many tea enthusiasts dismiss bagged tea as inherently inferior, but Steven Smith fills the specialty bags to still allow the tea plenty of space, and uses high quality teas. "Bungalow" is a favorite of mine for accompanying afternoon tea or a big breakfast.
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Mizuba Tea Company
Yet another Portland company doing right by tea! Mizuba brings high grade matcha from the Uji region of Japan to the United States. At $20 a can, the Daily Matcha is a terrific matcha at a great price. Highly recommended!
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Ippodo Tea
This tea company is based in Kyoto, Japan, and if you are ever in Kyoto, you should definitely visit their store. Otherwise, they have a small tea room in New York City, and ship all over the world from their online shop. Many Americans have limited experience of Japanese green teas, and Ippodo will absolutely blow your mind. You can try teas you have never heard of. You can try so many different styles of sencha. You can try a gyokuro that will shock you the first time you taste it. You can buy what is hands down the best genmai I have ever had. It isn't cheap, but there are worse vices. Treat yourself!
http://www.ippodo-tea.co.jp/en/about/index.html
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Zuo Wang Tea
Based right here in Portland, Melanie and Forest of Zuo Wang are bringing the best teas of China to the US. Typically, the very best Chinese and Taiwanese teas do not make it out of the country. Zuo Wang aims to change that. Their white tea alone is a reason to be a fan.
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