Process Tie Guan Yin (TGY) Tea

Tie Guan Yin tea (TGY), a premium variety of oolong tea is more complicated than other teas in processing. Even you have good TGY tea and pluck it at the right time, if you do not process the tea properly, it will not be premium quality. Read on to learn how to process TGY tea (or to simply gain appreciation for the hard work that produces such fine tea).

Steps

 * 1) [[Image:Picking_tea_840.jpg|right|200px]]Pluck the tea leaves (cai qing). Ideally, tea leaves should be picked between 11am and 2pm for the best quality, since that is when the sun is at its strongest. Teas picked earlier in the day (8am-10am) or later in the day (3pm-5pm) will have a weaker quality, but if they ripen during these times, that's when they must be plucked.
 * 2) *[[Image:(1)picking with forfex_444.jpg|thumb|Forfex clippers.]]People used to pick tea with fingers, but it's easier to do with clippers/shears.
 * 3) *[[Image:(2)sample of cha qing_795.jpg|thumb]]Here is a close-up of a tea plant. Methods in plucking vary by how many leaves you pluck with a bud.
 * 4) **Imperial - the bud and first leaf to follow are taken.
 * 5) **Fine - taking the bud and the two leaves that follow; produces the optimal quality of tea.
 * 6) **Average - bud is taken with the first three leaves; allows the plant to grow better, but produces a lesser quality of tea.
 * 7) [[Image:2晒青_582.jpg|right|200px]]Dry tea leaves in the sun (sai qing). It is preferable to dry leaves in the sun rather than under artificial sources of heat. Afternoon sun is usually the best choice. Watch the tea carefully to ensure that it does not get burned.
 * 8) *[[Image:(4)bamboo dustpan_914.jpg|thumb]]When moving the tea, use bamboo dust pans.
 * 9) [[Image:3凉青_327.jpg|right|200px]]Cool the tea (liang qing). Move the tea leaves out of the sun and lay them out to cool so that they don't turn yellow.
 * 10) [[Image:4摇青_13.jpg|right|200px]]Toss the tea (yao qing). This is a very important step. Turn the tea carefully in a special bamboo drum to lightly bruise the edges of the leaves, which will accelerate the oxidation. This is critical to the unique character of TGY tea. Avoid turning the drum too much.
 * 11) [[Image:5萎凋_397.jpg|right|200px]]Dry the tea in air conditioned environment (wei diao). Put the leaves into an air conditioned storage area and spread thinly for oxidation.
 * 12) Repeat the tossing and drying as needed. You need years of experience to know how many times to toss and dry the tea, depending on the year, plantation, weather, and demand.
 * 13) [[Image:6杀青_105.jpg|right|200px]][[Image:(7)round pan_942.jpg|thumb]]Stop the oxidation process (sha qing). Use a special round pan to stop the oxidation process.
 * 14) Curl the tea (rou nian). This process involves four smaller steps.
 * 15) *[[Image:8束包_939.jpg|right|150px]][[Image:(8)making teaball_832.jpg|thumb]]Wrap the leaves into a ball (shu bao).
 * 16) *[[Image:9包揉_866.jpg|right|150px]]Tumble the ball to create a round, tight shape (bao rou).
 * 17) *[[Image:10打散_169.jpg|right|150px]]Break up the tea ball (da san).
 * 18) *Dry the tea again if it's too wet (wei hong).
 * 19) *Repeat these steps until a satisfactory shape is achieved.
 * 20) [[Image:11烘干_620.jpg|right|200px]]Dry the tea for easier packing.
 * 21) Sort, grade, and pack the tea.

Tips

 * The process takes about 20 hours from start to finish, and cannot be stopped once begun.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Make Iced Tea
 * How to Make Green Tea
 * How to Make Chinese Green Tea
 * How to Make Sun Tea
 * How to Drink Green Tea Properly
 * How to Buy Thai Tea
 * How to Grow an Herbal Tea Garden
 * How to Prepare Oolong Tea

Sources and Citation

 * Tea 101 - How to process Ti Kuan Yin, original source, shared with permission.