The processing of green tea is simply divided into three steps: green killing, kneading and drying, the key of which is green killing. The fresh leaves are killed, the activity of enzymes is passivated, and the various chemical components contained in them are basically physicochemical changes by thermodynamic action without the influence of enzymes, thus forming the quality characteristics of green tea.
finish
Degreasing plays a decisive role in the quality of green tea. Through high temperature, the enzymes in the fresh leaves are destroyed, and the oxidation of polyphenols is stopped to prevent the leaves from turning red. At the same time, part of the water in the leaves is evaporated to make the leaves soft and create conditions for kneading and forming. With the evaporation of water, the low-boiling point aromatic substances with grassy gas in the fresh leaves evaporate and disappear, thus improving the aroma of tea leaves.
Except for special tea, the process is carried out in the green machine. The factors affecting the quality of the green are the green temperature, the amount of leaves cast, the type of green machine, time, and the way of green. They are a whole and are implicated and restricted by each other.
Fried green
Due to the different effects of mechanical or manual operation during the drying process, the tea forms different shapes such as long strip, round bead, fan flat, needle, and spiral, so it is divided into long fried green, round fried green, flat fried green, and so on.
Long fried green is called eyebrow tea after refining, and the finished products have Zhenmei, Gongxi, rain tea, needle eyebrows, show eyebrows, etc., each with different quality characteristics. Such as Zhenmei: The lines are thin and straight or its shape is like a lady’s show eyebrows, the color is green and frosty, the aroma is high, the taste is strong and refreshing, and the soup color and leaf bottom are green and yellowish and bright; Gongxi: It is a round tea in long fried green, and it is called Gongxi after refining. The shape of the particles is similar to pearl tea, round and uniform, does not contain broken tea, the color is green and uniform, the aroma is pure, the taste is still strong, the soup color is yellow-green, and the bottom of the leaves is still tender and even; rain tea: the original long-shaped tea separated from pearl tea Most of the rain tea is obtained from the eyebrow tea, the shape is thin and short, still tight, the color is green and even, the aroma is pure, the taste is still strong, the soup color is yellow-green, and the bottom of the leaves is still tender and even; round fried green: the shape of the particles is round and tight, and it is divided into flat fried green, Quangang Huibai and Yongxi Huoqing due to different origins and picking methods.
Ping fried green: produced in Shengxian, Xinchang, Shangyu and other counties in Zhejiang Province. Due to the historical concentration of Mao tea in Pingshui Town, Shaoxing, refining and distribution, the finished tea is thin, round and tight like a pearl, so it is called “Pingshui pearl tea” or flat green, Mao tea is called flat fried green; Flat fried green: due to different origins and production methods, it is mainly divided into three types: Longjing, flag gun, and Dafang.
baked green
It is dried in a drying cage. Most of the roasted green hair tea is reprocessed and refined, and it is used as a tea blank for smoked scented tea. The aroma is generally not as high as that of fried green, and a few famous roasted green teas have excellent quality. According to its appearance, it can also be divided into strip tea, pointed tea, flake tea, needle tea, etc. Bar-shaped roasted green is produced in the main tea-producing areas of the country; pointed and flake tea is mainly produced in Anhui, Zhejiang and other provinces and cities. Among them, special roasted green is mainly Mabian Yunwu Tea, Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Monkey Kui, Tingxi Orchid Fragrance, Lu’an Melon Pieces, Jingting Green Snow, Tianshan Green Tea, Guzhu Purple Bamboo Shoots, Jiangshan Green Peony, Emei Maofeng, Jinshui Cuifeng, Xiangzhou Bifeng, Nanwao Baihao, etc. Such as Huangshan Maofeng: produced in Huangshan, The appearance is tender and slightly curled, the buds are fat and well-proportioned, with a edge, like a “tongue”, the color is golden and oily, commonly known as ivory, the aroma is fresh and long, the soup color is apricot yellow, clear and bright, the taste is mellow, fresh and sweet, and the buds and leaves at the bottom of the leaves are blossoming, thick and bright.
sun green
It is sun-dried. Mainly distributed in Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces with a small amount of production. Sun-green green tea is the best quality of Yunnan large-leaf species, called “Dianqing”; others such as Chuanqing, Qianqing, Guiqing, Eqing and other qualities have their own advantages, but they are not as good as Dianqing.
Steamed green
Steaming green is an ancient method of killing green with steam in our country. It was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty and has been in use since the Ming Dynasty; in our country, it has been changed to stir-fried green since the Ming Dynasty. Steaming green is the use of steam to destroy the enzyme activity in fresh leaves, forming the “three green” quality characteristics of dark green in dry tea color, light green in tea soup and green in tea base. However, the aroma is stuffy and green, and the astringency is also heavier. It is not as refreshing as pan-fried green tea. Due to the needs of foreign trade, our country has also produced a small amount of steamed green tea since the mid-1980s. The main varieties are Enshi Yulu, produced in Enshi, Hubei; Chinese Sencha, produced in Zhejiang, Fujian and Anhui provinces.
Green tea is the earliest type of tea in history. The collection of wild tea buds and leaves by ancient humans can be regarded as the beginning of green tea processing in a broad sense, dating back at least 3,000 years. But the true sense of green tea processing began with the invention of the steaming green method in the 8th century AD, and the invention of the fried green method in the 12th century. Green tea processing technology has been relatively mature, and it has been used until now and has been continuously improved. [1]
twist
Kneading and twisting is a process of shaping the shape of green tea. By using external force, the leaves are crushed and lightened, rolled into strips, reduced in size, and easy to brew. At the same time, part of the tea juice overflows and adheres to the surface of the leaves, which also plays an important role in improving the concentration of tea taste. The kneading and twisting process of making green tea is divided into cold kneading and hot kneading. The so-called cold kneading means that the green leaves are kneaded and twisted after being cooled; hot kneading is the kneading and twisting of the green leaves while they are hot without being cooled. The young leaves should be cold kneaded to keep the yellow-green and bright soup color on the green bottom of the leaves, and the old leaves should be hot to facilitate the tight knots of the strips and reduce the amount
dry
The purpose of drying is to evaporate water and organize the shape to give full play to the aroma of the tea. Drying methods include drying, stir-frying, and sun-drying. The drying process of green tea is generally dried first, and then fried. Because the water content of the rolled tea leaves is still very high, if they are directly fried dry, they will quickly agglomerate in the pan of the frying machine, and the tea juice will easily stick to the wall of the pan. Therefore, the tea leaves are dried first to reduce the water content to meet the requirements of pan frying. [2]