The flow chart illustrates the two different methods used in the production of black tea.
Overall, the process consists of five main stages, beginning with the collection of fresh tea leaves and ending with the drying of the processed leaves.
At the first stage, only the bud and the top two leaves are carefully plucked to ensure high quality tea. In the following stage, tea leaves will be placed on a rack to allow air to pass through and reduce their moisture content by 60%. Next, the withered tea leaves will enter another stage using either traditional or modern methods. The traditional method involves rolling the leaves flat to create loose tea, which in turn releases enzymes from the leaves. In contrast, the new method is producing tea bags, including cutting, tearing and curling the leaves to make smaller granular pieces more quickly.
The fourth stage is called oxidation or fermentation, starts by spreading out the rolled tea onto flat surfaces, such as tiles or cement, then allowing the enzymes to react with the air and the color of the teas changes to copper. The final stage is to dry or fry up the manufactured teas in the oven or hot air dryers that allows 97% of the moisture out, releasing the flavor and aroma.