The importance of rolling to the appearance of black tea

sunshine

Beautiful shape is not only important to humans, but also crucial to tea. People who love tea can never put it down for tea with beautiful lines. Among the six major tea categories, Gongfu black tea has extremely beautiful strips, with the strips tightly knotted and the pekoe exposed.



Shaping the shape of tea leaves plays an important role in the formation of the inner substance of Kungfu black tea. So how can we make the appearance of black tea beautiful? Twisting is key.

According to the "Yun Tea Ceremony", rolling is an important process for shaping the appearance and forming the inner substance of Gongfu black tea. Kungfu black tea requires a tightly knotted appearance and a rich and sweet inner taste, which depends on the tightness of the rolled leaves and the rate of cell damage.

Through the mechanical force of rolling, leaf cells are damaged and the tea juice overflow accelerates the enzymatic oxidation of polyphenolic compounds, laying the foundation for the formation of the unique endoplasm of black tea. The kneaded tea juice overflows and adheres to the surface of the leaves, which becomes dark and shiny after drying. It is easily soluble in water during brewing and increases the concentration of the tea soup.


When kneading, the amount of leaves varies depending on the machine model and whether the leaves are old or tender. Generally, it can be installed naturally until it is 5 cm away from the kneading cover.

Generally, it takes 60-90 minutes. It is affected by the performance of the rolling machine, the quality of the leaves, the withering quality, and the temperature. It must be flexibly controlled while ensuring the rolling quality. According to the pressure principle of "light, heavy, light", no pressure is applied at the beginning of rolling, the leaves are initially formed into strips, and pressure is gradually applied. The pressure is reduced before the end of rolling, so that the tea strips are collected and the tea juice is recovered.


The degree of rolling is when the cell damage rate is over 80%, over 90% of the leaves are in strips, the strips are tightly rolled, the tea juice fully overflows and adheres to the surface of the tea strip, and when the hand is held tightly, the tea juice overflows but does not drip.