The frying of Tea leaves mainly involves three steps: 1. Pick one bud and one leaf, clean to remove impurities, wash the large pot with clean water, and heat it dry with firewood. 2. Pour in fresh leaves, fry slowly over a low flame, constantly flipping them back and forth quickly to avoid burning. 3. After an hour of frying when a strong tea aroma is detected, continue frying for another 40 minutes before removing them.

Simple Steps for Frying Tea Leaves – The Most Important Points

1. Cleaning

When frying tea, first pick single buds, one bud and one leaf, or two leaves, place them in a tea basket, then spread the tea leaves on a bamboo tray, sifting out old leaves, withered leaves, broken leaves, etc. Soak the sifted tea leaves in clean water to wash away dirt that has adhered to the surface of the tea leaves.

2. Withering

After cleaning the tea leaves, spread them on a bamboo tray and sun-dry them for 4-6 hours. During this period, turn the tea leaves 1-2 times to ensure they are evenly exposed to sunlight, causing their color to darken.

3. Frying

Next, clean the iron pan, place it on the stove to heat up, then put in the dried tea leaves and start frying. Quickly fry the tea leaves in a clockwise motion from bottom to top; the frying time should not exceed 3-5 minutes.

4. Drying

Spread the fried tea leaves evenly on a bamboo tray and place them in a cool, dry area to air-dry. Once the temperature of the tea leaves has dropped, continue frying them in the pan, repeating this process five times. For the final frying, turn off the heat and dry the tea leaves while they still have residual warmth. Finally, spread the tea leaves evenly on a bamboo board to cool down.

Tea originated in China and, as the most common beverage in our daily lives, has a long history. In ancient times, our ancestors started picking and making tea. Over time, this beverage gradually evolved into a culture. The exchange between Eastern and Western civilizations also allowed tea and tea-drinking culture to spread far and wide, gaining popularity. With the development of modern technology, various tea-making machinery has been produced, and various industrialized methods of tea production have given new life to this traditional beverage. Even so, some traditional handcrafted tea-frying techniques have not been abandoned.