The diagram illustrates the details of the steps involved in the process of making Pu-erh Raw Tea and Ripe Tea. Overall, it is readily apparent that although the three initial processing stages: pan-frying, rolling, and sun-drying are identical, the subsequent processes are different for both kinds of tea. Ripe Tea manufacturing involves two stages while Raw Tea has only two steps.
The process commences with pan-frying of tea leaves until the inactivation of certain enzymes. Subsequently, these leaves underwent the procedure of rolling and drying in direct sunlight, respectively. Now, the procedure differs for making two separate kinds of tea.
For Ripe Tea, the sun-dried loose leaves are fermented by mold, after the completion of this, the leaves turn brown from green. In the final stage, the leaves are compressed to become Pu-erh Ripe tea.
Conversely, for manufacturing of the Pu-erh Raw Tea, the sun-dried leaves are compressed. Furthermore, these are stored for aging until they turn to Vintage Pu-erh Raw Tea by changing from green to brown.