There are 7 main phases in TW oolong production, they are: plucking, sunlight withering, indoor withering, fixation, kneading, drying and packing. The vitality of leaves is the anchor of good oolong teas, which means we need to strike the fine balance between hydro emission and flavor transformation. If the hydro emission goes too fast, it wouldn’t leave enough space for the transformation and lead to lack of flavors; on the other hand, it flavors get transformed while too much moisture stuck in leaves, the tea will have high bitterness and astringency.
It takes 3 elements of withering, enzyme activity & hydo emission to synchronize together to have good flavor transformation (chart as below). They function individually and crate different effects of a tea; they can coexist and trigger further interactions with each other, but not necessarily appear at the same time without proper handling. Moreover, too strong action on any element will simply stop the other ones from functioning. In other words, only when 3 of them work in harmony can craft a good tea. Based on this fundamental understanding, we then can do the best preparation as much as possible.
So, when plucking teas, we will do everything to avoid dews on leaves. Leaves with heavy dew means the extra efforts will be required to get rid of, then it will sacrifice the function space of withering and enzyme activity. Besides, too fresh leaf (one bud two leaves) is also a big headache due to the insufficient contents of pectin, catechin, polyphenol, etc in leaves for flavor transformation, and the veins are not developed well enough for the functions of hydro emission. So, sweeping dews away before peaking, plucking teas when sunlight is enough and choosing fresh but not too young leaves are the best things to do for the first step.
Trilliant Industry 