The illustration demonstrates the production of black tea.
Overall, black tea production begins with harvesting and withering the leaves before splitting into two different processing methods. Although the traditional and modern methods differ in how the leaves are processed, both are followed by oxidation and final drying.
The first two steps involve harvesting fresh tea leaves and withering. Initially, the tea leaves are picked by the farmers, but only bud and two top leaves are chosen. After this, the picked leaves are spread out on racks, and a fan is used for withering. In this step, air is passed through the leaves and removed about 60% moisture.
In the following steps, the The dried the leaves go through two different methods. The traditional method is to loose tea,where the leaves are rolled and broken. In contrast, the modern method cuts the tea leaves into smaller pieces than those of the traditional method, speeding up the process. Afterwards, the rolled leaves are spread out on tiles and cement, where the enzymes react with the air, causing the leaves to change colour. Finally, the new leaves are fired and dried in an oven or hot-air dryers , reducing more 97% and releasing flavour and aroma.