Dive into the world of oolong tea and master the unique fermentation process for a truly rich experience!

Understanding the Unique Green-Making Fermentation Process of Oolong Tea

One of the keys to the quality formation of Oolong tea lies in the "green-making" fermenting process, which is a intricate processing step. The intensity, frequency and duration of shaking all affect the extent of fermentation level.

The shaking process, technically quoted by tea makers as "green-making", is the key technique for forming the unique quality style of oolong tea and is an important step in achieving the color, aroma, and taste, which involves the alternation of shaking and stationary airing of the softened fresh leaves.

The process promotes the formation of the "water movement" rule in the green leaves, resulting in the phenomena of "leaf reviving" and "grass-scent reducing." Consequently, water and soluble substances in the leaf stems and veins are transferred to leaves, with moisture gradually dissipating through the stomata and soluble substances combining and transforming with the leaf contents to form higher-grade aromatic compounds. The alternation of shaking and airing leads to a gradual moderate damage to the leaf edge, promoting the controlled enzymatic oxidation of tea polyphenols, thereby forming the quality of oolong tea.

The environment for making green should be controlled, ideally at a temperature of 22-25℃ and relative humidity of 70-80%, which is conducive to the formation of superior quality. On "northern wind days," the temperature is lower, the weather is cool, and the humidity is lower, favoring the coordination of "water movement" and the transformation of internal substances in the green leaves, resulting in better tea quality. On "southern wind days," the weather is sultry, the air humidity is high, making it difficult for the green leaves to "transfer water and reduce grass-scent," while the enzymatic oxidation process within the leaves occurs rapidly, leading to a loss of coordination between the transformation of internal substances and "water movement," resulting in tea with less pronounced aroma and a tendency to be bitter.

The principle of “green-making” is that through multiple shaking, the tea leaves collide and rub against each other, causing gradual damage to the leaf edges. After oxidation, this produces the characteristic "green leaves with red edges," and the internal substances of the tea leaves oxidize and transform to emit natural floral and fruity aromas. Chinese Tea makers would conclude it as "Observe the leaves while making; Observe the weather when making."

Manually shaking: The procedure involves shaking the leaves and resting for airing, repeated 5-10 times over a duration of 6-12 hours. The degree of shaking depends on the status of tea leaves, with resting times gradually increase. The thickness of the spread leaves of one sieve can be added then the quantity of tea leaves by one sieving can be combined, i.e. “two sieves into one sieve” or "three sieves into two".

Machine shaking: The procedure involves alternating blowing air—shaking—resting, repeated 6-10 times, with a duration of 6-12 hours. Additionally, the moisture content of the leaves decreases gradually, the color of the leaves transitions from green to bright yellow, the leaf edges change from green to red, the transparency of the leaf veins increases, the scent shifts from strong grassy to fresh fragrant, and the hand touch of the leaf texture feels stiff to soft.