What is tea and How is tea produced?

In the article, what is tea and how is tea produced? We briefly explain the planting, harvesting, fermentation of tea. Stay with us.

What is tea?

The Camellia sinensis plant, an evergreen plant native to East Asia, produces the aromatic beverage known as tea by sprinkling hot or boiling water on its leaves. This beverage is the most popular worldwide after water.

In ancient China, the name of this plant was pronounced as tea in the southern Chinese dialect and as tei in the northern dialect. Both pronunciations are made from the same single Chinese letter. The northern Chinese, Middle Eastern, and North African populations are where the name of this plant was first given to the inhabitants of Western Europe. They picked it up from southern Chinese people.

The tea beverage is prepared by steeping the dried leaves, buds, or branches of the Camellia sinensis tea plant for a short period of time in hot water (just below boiling). Its processing may also involve adding herbs, flowers, spices, and other fruits to it, as well as oxidizing, heating, and drying it.

Although it has nearly little fat, carbs, or protein and is a natural source of caffeine and antioxidants, tea has a flavorful, somewhat bitter, and astringent flavor.

In Iran, tea is a common beverage that most people drink every day. Iranians also believe that tea may relieve weariness.

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Tea planting methods in Iran:

1- The first method: Planting tea on sloping land

Although the tea plant needs heavy rainfall to grow, stagnant water is also harmful to its mobile roots. Therefore, it will be more suitable for growing tea on the hillsides where the rain drains off easily after raining and watering the plant, however, if the drainage is good, this plant can grow equally well in the valley. But in general, tea always grows better on land with a gentle slope (usually 10% slope) and this land will allow natural drainage for the plant, because tea plants, unlike rice plants, cannot survive in stagnant water.

On the other hand, harvesting a lot of agricultural lands and doing a lot of pruning may lead to the reduction of organic matter in the soil, in addition to soil erosion in sloping lands that occurs due to the torrential rains in autumn and winter. It leads to further reduction of these organic substances. As a result, in order to avoid the risk of soil erosion, the relevant land must be terraced by embankments that make the land into a stepped shape, and in this way, the greater the slope of the land, the smaller the width of the embankments. For example, the width of the floodlights should not be less than 21 meters.

2-The second method: Planting tea in the forest lands of northern Iran

According to the climatic conditions required for planting tea, it is one of the suitable areas for the northern regions of our country. But due to the northern climate, many bushes and shrubs usually grow in these lands, which must be uprooted first by deep plowing. Because they may grow again and cause land pollution and the reduction of nutrients in the soil, which in this case will also reduce the yield of the tea plant. Also, if these plants suffer from fungal and bacterial diseases, they will damage the sharp tea plants. Therefore, to have an excellent crop of tea in the northern regions of the country, it is recommended to remove weeds and the remains of the roots of other plants from the garden.

3-The third method: Planting tea in the land where tea has already been cultivated

Due to the annual harvests, the land intended for tea cultivation may have weakened. As a result, in order to have fertile land and supply the organic materials needed for cultivation, as well as increase permeability, and moisture retention and prevent soil hardening, it is necessary to cultivate plants known as green manure, such as soybeans and beans. Chashm Bulbli took action to increase the number of quality products by creating a suitable environment for the growth of tea plants. If the fertility of the land is low, it is necessary to continue planting the above-mentioned plants for two consecutive years, and every year before blooming, bury them under the soil with a deep plow so that their decay increases the organic matter of the soil.

4-The fourth method: Planting tea in the plains and plains

To plant tea on this type of land, it is necessary to protect the soil by using different methods, one of the main methods is the construction of a drainage network. In fact, drainage leads to maintaining balanced moisture for the soil and directing the excess water beyond the needs of the tea plants out of the garden area. Proper drainage can lower the level of underground water up to 90 cm below the soil level and prevent tea roots from suffocating due to high humidity. The construction of open canals is the best drainage method for tea gardens.

Features of quality tea farms:

since there is a strong correlation between weather and tea quality. The amount and quality of this commodity can both be impacted by the climate.

The greatest tea plantations are those that have the optimum growth circumstances, which are temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, like those in Iran’s north, where tea is only picked in the spring, summer, and fall. Additionally, this plant is delicate to rain. It requires around 1400 millimeters annually. It seems sense that the fields with this much annual precipitation have better soil. The tea grown on farms in the hills and heights has considerably higher quality scent,

flavor, and yield than the tea grown on farms in the lowlands and plains.

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How is tea picked and processed?

Stay with us as we talk about how tea is picked and produced.

the step of tea harvesting

It is much more typical to pick tea by hand since mechanical harvesting destroys the tea leaves.

To make it simpler to pick the tea bush by hand, its height is often cut to between 120 and 130 cm.

The bud at the end and the two lower leaves are said to be the best tea leaves to pluck.

During the spring and summer, tea is gathered.

Picked tea leaves are processed after being placed in baskets or specialty tea bags.

step of tea processing

Tea processing can be done with the following methods:

drying

giving heat

oxidation

Adding some other herbs, flowers and even some fruits to the tea.

Tea production – the drying stage of tea

Today, tea is often dried using a specialized drier.

There are unique trays within such a gadget.

On these trays as well as within the device, the tea is subjected to warm air flow.

The tea in the gadget is dried properly and completely thanks to the hygrometer and temperature.

Another more basic method for this is to dry the tea with a heat fan.

Processing of tea by steaming

The harvested teas are cooked with steam after being picked and moved to the processing area in special tea baskets or bags.

There are two methods to do this:

Tea is steamed using a particular apparatus.

steaming using a special plate and a pot of hot water

Typically, the steaming process takes two minutes, although the precise amount of time depends on when the tea begins to change color.

Stop steaming as soon as the tea’s color approaches an olive hue from the steaming and the leaves start to droop.

Tea production tea fermentation and oxidation

What is known as tea oxidation and fermentation is actually a chemical process that occurs in tea and results in the black color of the tea.

In other words, the darker the color of the tea, the higher the level of oxidation in it. As a result, white and green tea have the lowest amount of oxidation.

What tea has the longest shelf life?

Oxidation determines the longevity of tea. The more oxidized, the longer the tea will last. This is because the oxidation process stabilizes the composition of the tea and makes it less prone to spoilage. Black tea, which has the most oxidation, is the most durable tea.

How can you tell if tea is pure?

After pouring the tea, give it an hour to fully reach the ambient temperature. If the color of the tea darkens after this period, it definitely contains chemicals and color that has chemically reacted and darkened due to contact with oxygen in the air. But if after one hour the color of the tea remains stable and beautiful without any change, then it is a high-quality tea whose color is a completely natural color without any chemicals or dyes.

Is tea harvesting done by hand?