Picking Black Tea
On the second morning of our Black Tea Workshop, we went up to some of the Assam tea fields in the Yu Chr area to pick tea. It’s in a very unassuming area – just a narrow concrete road winding into the hills. There wasn’t even room to turn the car around!
The first thing I noticed as we walked up to the field was the absolute quiet. There weren’t even birds singing that morning, and the air was still and peaceful. I found myself
wishing I’d brought my travel teaset along. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, but I was glad we weren’t planning on picking for several hours. It’s amazing how much leaf needs to be picked just to produce 1 jing (600g) of tea. In the hour or so we were there, 7 of us picked a total of about 300g, which, when processed, ends up as 50g of brewable tea.
There’s a different picking technique used for
these teas. For a lot of hand-picked oolongs, the pickers will use a razor taped to their thumb to cut the stems. Master Tsai explained that, for these Assam plants, cutting pinches off the stem, causing the branch to die back a little and inhibiting plant growth. To promote the health of the bushes, we simply squeeze the
stem between thumb and forefinger, then twist gently to break it off. If it doesn’t snap easily, the leaf is too old to pick and should be left alone.
While ’1 bud 2 leaves’ is the standard rule, it really depends on the quality of that 4th leaf whether it should be included or not. It’s amazing how much
depends on the judgement of the pickers, who have to determine the quality of each leaf as they pick it. While a skilled processor can adjust the oxidization, drying, roasting and other factors to a certain degree, the quality of picked leaf is crucial to producing a good end product.
The special thing about these fields is that they are certified
organic, so the soil and plants are very clean. This was shown in the amount of bug-eaten leaf we saw, and also in the types & amounts of bugs we found crawling around. We were lucky enough to run across my favorite of all insects, the Praying Mantis. We also were shown how caterpillars will chew a leaf down the center, causing it to roll up, then crawl inside and use it for a cocoon.
Back at the shop, we took a look at the tea that had been drying out
overnight. The overall bulk of the drying bin was about 1/4 less than we saw the day before – as the moisture ‘sweats’ out, the leaf softens and compresses, making it easier to roll.
