Tea Harvesting

Depending on the quality and desired expectation of the final product, tea is pinched by machines or by hand. In some cases, geographical conditions, e.g., on hillsides, allow only hand-picking. On average, leaves can be harvested every 7 to 15 days, depending on climate and location. The growth rate slows down as altitude increases.

To produce 1 kg of finished tea, about 4 to 4.5 kg of green leaves need to be harvested.

Machine Harvesting: The upper 2-4 leaves, including stems and stalks, are harvested; the yield is high and the harvest requires little labor.

Hand harvesting: Without a doubt, this work is one of the longest times in the entire tea production. In this instance, only the bud and the first two leaves are taken. Harvesting requires a lot of care and dexterity, and it is mainly women who harvest the tea. On average, one person collects 16 to 24 kg of leaves per day.  The harvested leaves are delivered to the plantation factory two or three times a day. The fresh, green leaves still have a neutral scent, and only after going through a series of production processes at the factory will an aromatic tea result.

The Tea Leaf

The first selection of quality is based on the plantation itself. The most valued plantations are those in the mountains around 2,000 meters, as the altitude decreases the leaves are coarser and the amount of bud and apical leaves decreases.

Shadow tea, mountain tea, highland tea, cloud tea. The environment’s impact on the plant results in the flavor notes in tea. Teas have specific scents given by the type of cultivar, climatic conditions, soil chemistry, and processing steps.

The most important substances in tea in their greatest concentration are contained in the first two leaves and the leaf leaf.