Green Tea
The production of green tea starts with picking the leaves, a task often done by hand so that only the youngest and most tender leaves are selected.
Once harvested, the leaves are lightly withered, just enough to soften them and make them easier to handle before moving to the crucial fixation stage.
During fixation, the leaves are rapidly heated to halt the natural enzymes that would otherwise cause oxidation. This quick heating preserves the leaf’s fresh qualities.
Green tea is primarily produced in two major regions: China and Japan.
In Japan, fixation is carried out using steam. This steaming method creates teas with a bright green liquor and a distinctly grassy, vegetal flavor. It is the technique used to produce iconic Japanese teas such as our Gyokuro Asahi.
In China, fixation typically involves dry heat. The leaves are heated directly in a hot pan or container, resulting in teas with roasty, toasty, and nutty notes. This pan‑firing method is characteristic of many traditional Chinese green teas. Our Lung Ching Supreme is a standout example of this style.
After fixation, the green tea leaves may be rolled, or left unrolled, depending on the style of tea being made. Rolling helps release the leaves’ characteristic aromas and flavours, while unrolled leaves create a lighter, more delicate profile.
Finally, the tea is dried, usually in ovens or under the sun to preserve their freshness and flavor.
White Tea
White tea requires only three steps: plucking, withering, and drying.
Because white tea processing relies on on the leaf’s own chemistry, only the buds and first leaves are selected. These parts of the plant contain the highest levels of compounds responsible for white tea’s floral and spicy notes.
There are several types of white teas, some are made enterily from buds, such as our Yin Zhen Silverneedle which produces a rich, meadow‑sweet infusion layered with floral and creamy notes., while others are made from buds and the first two leaves, like our Darjeeling Pai Mu Tan that offers some of the delicate and elegant sweetness that you’d expect from a silver needle while adding slightly grassy or herbaceous depth and texture.
Following the withering stage, the leaves are dried to lower their moisture content and fully stop oxidation, which in turn develops and intensifies their distinctive flavor and aroma.
Oolong Tea
Among all types of teaf, oolongs are the most complex, owing to both their grown conditions and the elaborate sequence of processing stages they undergo—plucking, sun withering, indoor withering, bruising, fixing, rolling, shaping, baking or roasting, and drying.
The name oolong means “black dragon,” likely inspired by the curled, dragon‑like shape of its leaves.
Unlike white or green teas, the most mature leaves of the tea plant are selected. The reason is that these more developed leaves have a robust quality to withstand the complex processing of Oolong teas. They also contain higher levels of polyphenols and have thicker cell walls, which make them ideal for the slow, controlled oxidation that gives Oolong its sweeter, creamier, and more rounded flavour profile.
Oolongs generally fall into three main styles: lightly oxidised varieties like our Formosa Dong Ding Wulong; medium oxidised teas such as our Formosa Tie Guan Yin Premium ; and heavily oxidised Oolongs like our Jeju Island Dark Oolong. The least‑oxidized Oolong teas share similarities with green tea but generally show less bitterness. With higher oxidation, the fresh green and cut‑grass aromas diminish, giving way to richer, more floral ones.
Black Tea
The production of black tea begins with withering, where buds and young leaves are spread out on large surfaces or exposed to gentle airflows to reduce their moisture to the desired level. During this stage, proteins in the leaves start breaking down into amino arcids, helping develop the tea’s characteristic aroma and final flavor.
Once withered, the leaves are twisted or lightly bruised to break the internal cell walls. This can be done using the CTC method (Cut, Tear, Curl), which quickly reduces the leaves into small particles and speeds up oxidation, or through orthodox rolling, which preserves the leaf’s shape to produce higher‑quality, more complex teas. In both cases, the goal is the same: break the leaf cells to release their natural juices, allowing full oxidation and the development of the tea’s final flavour and aroma.
The rolled leaves are then exposed to oxygen in a controlled, humid environment. This oxidation phase transforms the green leaves into a coppery or brown tone and develop tea’s final flavor.
Once the leaves reach the right level of oxidation, they’re dried to stop the enzymes and lower the moisture, preserving the tea’s flavour and aroma.
In black tea production, experts sort the leaves by size, shape, and overall quality.
The most common varieties of black tea include Darjeeling (ranging from fresh, floral notes to mature muscatel flavours), Ceylon (citrus to sweet notes), Assam (robust, malty, and rich—excellent on its own or with milk), Keemun (smooth with sweet, cocoa‑like aromas), and Lapsang Souchong (famous for its distinctive smoky flavour).
Yellow Tea
Yellow tea is one of the world’s rarest teas, produced through a slow, highly skilled and labour‑intensive process that takes up to three days and yields only very small batches, found mainly in China.
Yellow tea shares some steps with green‑tea processing, but includes an extra stage. After a brief wither, the leaves are heated, usually at lower temperatures and for a shorter time than green tea to stop oxidaiton. While still warm and slightly moist, the leaves are wrapped in thick paper or cloth to undergo the “yellowing” phase. This enclosed environment lets the leaves slowly release and reabsorb moisture, encouraging light additional oxidation. This procedure is repeated several times to o allow the tea to develop the desired level of fermentation.
After going through the previous stages, the tea leaves are gently dried at low temperatures using charcoal baking to preserve their freshness and quality. This creates a light green tea with warm roasted, toasty, and nutty notes, and a sweet, silky‑smooth finish.
Dark Tea
Dark tea is set apart from other teas by its post‑fermentation process. It originated in the warmer, more humid regions of China, conditions that naturally support fermentation. Among its various sub‑types, Pu‑erh is the best known. This tea takes its name from Pu’er, a county in southern Yunnan Province.
There are two main approaches to producing Pu-erh tea: Sheng Pu-Erh (raw) and Shou Pu-Erh (ripe).
Both Pu-Erh start life as a rough green tea, a short wither, either in the sun, or in bad weather conditions, indoors.
The leaves are then pan‑fired to halt most enzymatic activity, stopping oxidation while allowing a few resilient enzymes to remain active.
After heating, the leaves are rolled and lightly kneaded to bruise the leaf structure and release their internal juices. This stage encourages the early development of fermentation and controlled oxidation, which play a key role in shaping the flavour and character of the final Pu-Erh.
After this, is where the two main approaches to produce Pu-erh differ.
Sheng (Raw) Pu-erh:
Once the leaves have been rolled, they are dried to remove remaining moisture. This stabilises the tea and prepares it for long-term aging. After drying, the leaves are compressed into compact cakes or bricks. These shapes support a slow, steady fermentation. Stored under carefully maintained temperature and humidity conditions, natural microbes and enzymes gradually break down the leaf compounds. Over time, this transforms the tea’s initially sharp, vegetal qualities into smoother, sweeter, more floral, and earthy flavours. This type of Pu‑erh improve over time, with some batches maturing for three decades or more.
Shou (Ripe) Pu-erh:
Instead of being dried immediately after rolling, the leaves are wet-pilled , for several moths to promote microbial activity and accelerate fermentation. By the end of the wet‑piling process, the tea has already achieved much of the earthy, smooth, mellow character.
Once fermentation is complete, the leaves are dried to remove any remaining moisture. They are then lightly steamed to make them pliable, pressed into shape, wrapped, and allowed to age.
