|
PRODUCT PROFILE:
The tea in general is black tea. The way it is manufactured
helps to develop tannin which is a stimulant which also contains a
little caffeine. Besides black tea there are other forms of tea
known as green tea, oolong tea and instant tea. The raw material is
the same green leaf used for any other tea.
The Black Tea is again of two types
*
ORTHODOX
*
CTC
·
Geographical Sources:
The has its origin
from China where now commercially only green tea is grown in which
China is the largest producer of green tea in the world. Tea is also
grown in India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia etc. India is
the largest producer of tea in the world. In
India,
tea is harvested in Assam, Darjeeling, West Bengal, Tripura and
Nilgiris. |
|
|
§
Manufacturing
Process:
The primary concept behind manufacturing tea is called
fermentation.
In black tea manufacturing the primary objective is
to condition the green leaf for fermentation and then arrest it.
This is achieved by rupturing the leaf cells to release the enzymes
and to expose them to oxygen. As soon as optimum fermentation is
achieved, the leaf mass is passed through hot air which destroys the
enzymes and thus arrests the process.
Orthodox or the traditional tea making begins with "eithering
" the freshly plucked leaf. Withering is inducing the leaf to lose
about half its moisture in the course of 12 to 18 hours by using
warm air. At the end of this phase of manufacture, the leaf is
flaccid. This leaf now enters the next stage of manufacturing called
rolling” whose object is two fold; to rupture the leaf cells
for releasing the enzymes and to twist and curl the leaf. By
rupturing the cells, rolling sets off fermentation. Now the leaf is
passed through a chamber with perforated moving trays. This process
is called firing. The tea is now sorted using sieves and is
graded.
The C.T.C (crush, curl, and twined) process of manufacture
of tea is similar to Orthodox tea making, except in the sphere of
rolling . This process is much more severe: after a brief
conditioning roll , the leaf is passed through a machine comprising
two steel cylinders with fine tooth like edges. When the leaf is
passed through such machines, it is cut to finer pieces and hence
achieves intensified fermentation. This process of tea manufacture
makes the liquor much thicker and hence from the same amount
of tea flakes almost doubles the cuppage obtained. This is
the last technological breakthrough that the tea industry has seen
since 1931.
§
Quality:
The quality of tea manufactured, depends primarily upon the
soil content, irrigation facilities, infilling, plucking and above
all the manufactured process. Being, an agricultural produce, the
quality of tea produced varies throughout the season from March to
December. The tea produced can be divided into following categories
according to it's quality:
1.
First
Flush
2.
Second Flush
3.
Rain
Flush
§
Seasonality:
The quantity and quality of tea produced varies with
different seasons during the year and the same can be seen with the
help of the following graph:
Seasonality of production in
North India
·
Tea Testing:
It is a methodology
of identifying the quality of tea produced and price the tea should
fetch in the local, auction and export market. The Tea Tester
measures the quality and price of the tea produced in terms of its
aroma, liquor, color and brightness.
§
Health
Drink:
Tea is a relaxing, refreshing and stimulant drink. It is the world’s
most consumed hot beverage. Research in tea has shown that tea has
Flavonoids, which has excellent antioxidant properties. Flavonoids
combat the free radicals (the harmful unbalanced electrons in the
body that are responsible for cancer and cardiovascular diseases).
Tea is also a good source of Folic acid and gives 10% requirement of
daily RDI of manganese. Tea is a natural health drink & does not
contain any additive or preservative
|
