Tea is a commodity, and consumers’ long-term tea drinking habits have formed a certain quality specification for commercial tea. However, the raw tea produced in various regions, due to scattered production areas and insufficient precision in fresh leaf picking and initial processing, results in uneven aging and tenderness of the tea leaves, with different specifications of length, roundness, thickness, and fineness, mixed tendons, stems, simplicity, and slices, and even a small amount of impurities, which affects the appearance and purity of the tea leaves and does not meet the requirements of consumers. Therefore, it is necessary to refine the raw materials of raw tea to make it a commercial tea that meets quality specifications.
1. Organize the form
Due to uneven harvesting of fresh leaves and varying initial processing techniques, the shape of crude tea is complex, with sizes, lengths, thicknesses, straight hooks, and flat circles mixed together, which is very irregular and affects the appearance of commercial tea. One of the purposes of precision processing is to organize the appearance of raw tea, separate various external specifications, and make various colored finished teas according to different shapes such as length, circle, thickness, and fineness, so that each color is of the same level and the finished product appearance is relatively consistent. After the long stir fried green tea is decorated, it can be made into special treasures, precious eyebrows, rain tea, Gongxi, Xiumei, tea slices and other colors. After processing, red broken tea essence is divided into leaf tea, broken tea, sliced tea, ground tea and other colors.
2. Separate old and tender, distinguish grades
In the initial production process of tea, although corresponding technical measures are taken according to the tea leaves, and rough grades are also roughly classified for raw tea, this classification is difficult to ensure accurate differentiation between old and tender tea. High grade tea often contains coarse and old leaves, while low-grade tea still contains fine and tender buds and leaves. Therefore, crude tea is bound to be a mixture of old and tender, with unclear quality standards. This requires further separation of old and tender tea leaves in precision processing, and classification of tea grades to make the quality more distinct.
3. Dry appropriately and remove excess moisture
Some crude teas have insufficient dryness and high moisture content. Even relatively dry crude tea often absorbs moisture from the air during storage and transportation, leading to an increase in moisture content. Tea contains a lot of moisture, which can accelerate aging and even cause mold and deterioration. This requires moderate drying of tea leaves, removal of excess moisture to improve storage resistance, which is beneficial for storage and transportation. During drying, tea leaves lose water and shrink, which is beneficial for improving yield; Meanwhile, by drying, the color, aroma, and taste of tea can be further developed to improve its quality.
4. Eliminate impurities and ensure pure quality
Crude tea contains various impurities that must be removed in order to meet product quality and food hygiene requirements. Secondary quality tea such as old leaves, single leaves, stems, tea seeds, etc. must also be separated and removed in order to ensure that the quality of the finished tea meets the requirements.
5. Adjust quality and stabilize quality
Due to differences in tea tree varieties, cultivation management, harvesting techniques, and seasons, the quality of mature tea leaves of the same level varies greatly, especially in terms of internal quality. For example, spring tea has a rich aroma, while summer and autumn tea have a low aroma and bitter taste; High mountain tea has a strong aroma and rich taste, while low mountain flat tea has a milder aroma. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out quality adjustment to ensure that the same level of finished tea products meet the same specifications and quality, and maintain the stability of long-term quality.
In short, the purpose of processing crude tea essence is to achieve “uniform shape, pure quality, uniform specifications, and stable quality”. Different types of tea have different purposes and requirements for precision processing. However, the precision processing of any type of tea has common requirements, which are to ensure quality, improve production efficiency, reduce consumption, and maximize the economic value of raw tea.