Page 14 - Preparation of Tea Brochure

2. Flavored Teas
a. Earl Grey: A blend of ne black teas avored with oil of bergamot.
3. Oolong Teas: Withered, rolled/processed partially oxidized and dried.
This category is not indigenous to a particular region, but is produced mainly in China either on the mainland or on the island of Taiwan. Oolong teas have an extremely delicate fruity/nutty aroma and taste. The color and taste pro les can vary greatly due to the extent that the product is oxidized. There are a vast number of oolong types as the range/degree of oxidation is almost in nite, due to variables in time, temperature, humidity and volume of tea running through the system.
a. Black Dragon: A delicate fruity tea from the Amoy, Foochow & Canton provinces of China & Taiwan.
b. China Oolong: Select large leaf teas from China.
c. Formosa Oolong: Teas from Taiwan, known for their “peach” avor and aroma.
4. Green Tea: Withered, heated, rolled/processed and dried.
a. Pan Fired: Green tea, the oxidation of which has been halted by intense dry heat. There are hundreds of types of green. Characteristic taste varies greatly from mild/fragrant to pungent/astringent. The color is yellowish-green. Gunpowder is a type of green that has been rolled into pellets, the size of which help to determine its level of quality.
b. Sencha: Green tea that has been steamed to stop oxidation. This process creates a unique avor bouquet.
5. White Tea: This unique type is air dried initially to stop fermentation. There is little or no physical leaf processing. Once the tea has air dried suf ciently, it is then heated in ovens. White tea ideally is the nest of plucking, sometimes including only the bud of the leaf in the case of “Silver Tip” tea.
C. Grades of Tea
As part of their processing, tea leaves go through sieves, with graduated mesh, to sort them for commercial sale. These sieves divide them into three grades: leaf, broken and ne.
Leaf grades are made up of the larger leaves left after the broken grades have been sifted out. In brewing, avor and color come out of leaf grades more slowly than out of broken and ne grades. The primary leaf grades are known as Orange Pekoe (pronounced peck-o), Pekoe and Pekoe Souchong.
In orthodox manufacture, broken grades are made up of smaller, broken leaves, which vary in percentage to the marketing needs of countries in which they are produced. These broken grades make a darker, stronger beverage than their leafy counterparts.
Americans frequently believe they are getting a certain quality of tea when they buy Orange Pekoe. In actuality, the term has its origins in China where pekoe means “white hairs,” a look attributed to the presence of white tea buds amid the tea leaves.
14