How Tea is Processed: From Leaf to Cup
Every tea — green, black, CTC, or Orthodox — starts as the same fresh leaf. What happens between plucking and packaging is what determines the tea you end up drinking.
1. Plucking
Skilled pluckers select the top leaves and bud (usually "two leaves and a bud") from the tea bush by hand, since younger leaves produce the best flavour and the timing of the harvest (flush) affects character significantly.
2. Withering
Freshly plucked leaves are spread out and allowed to lose moisture over several hours, becoming soft and pliable so they can be rolled without breaking apart entirely. This step also begins subtle chemical changes that shape the final flavour.
3. Rolling
Leaves are rolled to break down cell walls and release enzymes that will drive oxidation. This is where CTC and Orthodox processing diverge sharply — CTC machinery crushes and tears the leaf into small granules, while Orthodox rolling twists the leaf while keeping it largely intact.
4. Oxidation
The bruised, rolled leaves are exposed to air in a controlled environment, allowing enzymatic reactions to darken the leaf and develop flavour and colour. The length of oxidation determines whether the result is green tea (minimal oxidation), oolong (partial), or black tea (full oxidation).
5. Firing (Drying)
Heat is applied to stop oxidation at the desired point and reduce moisture to a stable level for storage, locking in the flavour that's developed so far.
6. Sorting and Grading
Finished tea is sorted by leaf size and quality — whole leaf, broken leaf, fannings, dust — which determines both appearance and how the tea will be sold and used.
See our full sourcing and process story, and browse the range this process produces.