The diagram illustrates how black tea is manufactured by two different methods
Overall, these are linear processes, invented and used by humans. Also, these two methods include five main key steps, beginning with picking fresh tea leaves, and ending with firing or drying the collected leaves
In the first stage of steps, producers will pick fresh tea leaves, but only the bud and top part of the leaves will be plucked so as to ensure the best quality for manufacturing black tea. Then, all the tea leaves will witness a step called withering, which means air passed through leaves on the rack. With this step, 60% moisture of the leaves will be given off.
Move on to the next step, there is a difference between the two methods. In terms of traditional way ( loose tea ), the leaves will be rolled flat and broken to release enzymes from them. As for the recent method ( tea bags ), instead of being rolled, they will be cut, torn and curled. This way provides a quicker process and creates smaller granular pieces in comparison with the old one. After that, both specific processes experience the next step namely oxidation or fermentation, spreading rolled leaves on tiles or cement, to change the colour to copper. Finally, once the leaves are oxidized, they are ready to be fired or dried in ovens or hot air dryers to release 97% moisture totally, along with flavour and aroma out