The diagram illustrates the stages of the traditional and modern methods of black tea production.
The processes begin with harvesting fresh, green and crisp leaves. To be precise, only buds and two top leaves are picked in order to maintain high quality of tea. Once collected, the leaves undergo passing through specific machines on rack to evaporate 60% of the total moisture.
Regarding the traditional method of tea production, the half-dried leaves are then rolled flat which triggers their natural enzyme release. Meanwhile, the modern method, used for tea bags, applies a rather different method, which allows manufacturers to accelerate the process through chopping, tearing, and curling leaves, therefore, creating smaller granular pieces.
The two final stages involve spreading leaves on tiles to activate fermentation by means of air and leaf enzymes, which result in turning leaves copper color, and frying in air dryers to release the leaves’ aroma and evaporate the rest of the moisture, leaving only 3% of it left.
Overall, although the two methods of tea production differ slightly in terms of rolling leaves or cutting them, most of the stages remain the same in both processes, such as cropping, withering, oxidation, and drying.