The processing
chain
Every tea walks the same six-step path from leaf to cup. Learn the chain and each type becomes a set of decisions about how far to take each step.
Six steps, one path
There is a single processing spine underneath all of tea. What separates green from black from oolong is not a different path — it’s different choices at each stop. Click through:
The chain is a set of dials
Think of the chain as a row of dials, not a fixed recipe. How long you wither, how far you let oxidation run, when you apply heat to fix, how hard you roll, how much you roast — every type is just a different setting of these dials on the same plant. The single most important dial is oxidation (Session 5), and the switch that stops it is fixing (Session 6).
Questions
Flashcards
Lock it in
From memory:
- List the six steps of the processing chain in order.
- What does withering accomplish?
- What does the pluck standard determine, before processing?
- Which step gives the leaf its final shape?
- What single choice most determines which type of tea results?
Oxidation —
the master variable
This is the spine of the entire course, seen up close. Understand oxidation and the whole category map stops being a list to memorize and becomes a single axis to read.
What oxidation actually is
Click through the mechanism and why it sits at the center of everything:
The dial, revisited
Now that you know the mechanism, the oxidation dial should read as cause-and-effect rather than a list of styles. Click each step along the oxidation axis:
People loosely call oxidation "fermentation" — you’ll even see black tea described as "fully fermented." It isn’t. Green-to-black is oxidation (enzymes + air, no microbes). True microbial fermentation happens only in pu-erh and dark tea (Session 13). Keeping these separate is a mark of understanding the category properly.
Questions
Flashcards
Lock it in
From memory:
- What drives oxidation chemically?
- How do makers speed it up?
- How does flavor change as oxidation increases?
- Why is oxidation called the master variable?
- Why is "fermentation" the wrong word for black tea?
Fixing /
kill-green
One step — applying heat to stop oxidation — is the fork in the road that decides a tea’s type. Its timing and method are among the most consequential choices in all of tea.
Stopping oxidation on command
Click through what fixing is and how it’s done:
Two ways to fix a green
Pan-firing (Chinese style)
- Leaves heated in a wok or drum
- Nuttier, toastier, rounder character
- Classic for Longjing (Dragonwell)
- A hands-on, high-heat fix
Steaming (Japanese style)
- Leaves steamed within hours of plucking
- Vivid green color; fresh, grassy, marine
- Umami-rich — classic for sencha
- Preserves the "greenest" character
The when of fixing defines the type. Fix immediately after withering and oxidation never really starts → green. Delay fixing to allow partial oxidation → oolong. Never fix — oxidize fully, then just dry → black. This single decision, more than anything downstream, sets where you land on the dial.
Questions
Flashcards
Lock it in
From memory:
- How does fixing stop oxidation, physically?
- Contrast pan-firing and steaming and their flavor effects.
- How does fixing timing produce green vs oolong vs black?
- Why are green teas relatively perishable?
- Which fixing method gives the "greenest," most marine profile?