Tea Production
This section covers how tea is made: the core processing steps that transform fresh leaf into each category, plus the techniques artisans use to shape aroma, texture, and aging potential.
- Start here: Technics
Technics
Hello tea friends! Welcome back to the tea table. If you’ve ever wondered why a cup of Green Tea tastes grassy and …
Spring, Summer, Autumn (春茶、夏茶、秋茶): Reading Harvest Season on a Label
The Word Before the Tea Name Spend a few minutes on any Chinese tea vendor’s site and you start noticing a word stuck …
Reading the Leaf Bottom (叶底): What Spent Leaves Tell You
The Step Everyone Skips You finish the last infusion, and the leaves go in the compost. That’s a shame, because the wet …
Understanding Roast Levels in Oolong (焙火)
The Label That Nobody Explains You’re on a vendor site looking at three Tieguanyins. One is “light roast,” one is …
Storing Chinese Tea at Home (家庭存茶指南)
Why Good Tea Goes Bad You finally splurged on a beautiful spring Longjing — and three months later it tastes like hay. …
Harvest
If you’ve ever looked at a tin of high-end Chinese green tea and wondered why some leaves cost more than a fine bottle …
The Big Three: History and Terroir of Pu-erh
The Heart of Pu-erh: The “Big Three” Producing Regions To truly understand Pu-erh is to understand the land and the …
Dancong Producers
Discovering Phoenix Dancong: The Aromatic Oolong Phoenix Dancong (凤凰单丛, Fènghuáng Dān Cōng) is one of China’s most …
Puer Producers
The Titans of Tea: A Guide to Pu-erh’s Legendary Factories and Artisans For an amateur tea lover, the world of Pu-erh …