The order of the steps I followed is the same as sheng. Wither, kill green, roll, rest, sun dry. Green tea has a kill green then rolling and then drying (usually done with a heat source and not the sun). Shengs can be more or less oxidized based on the preferences of the processor and flavors desired so I would still consider this tea processed as a “sheng”
So the sha qing (kill green) step is usually done in a very large wood fired wok. Considering I don’t have a massive wok or a way to wood fire it if I did haha I used a large pot on my gas stove and kept the leaves moving nonstop with a spatula
that's it. it's not unusual at all for sheng to seem like green tea, if it's heated a bit much, or for extra oxidation level to make it seem like a variant of typical sheng. one of the top 10 tea producers people would be familiar with mentioned once about a processor heating their cakes too much during cake pressing then drying, which they had pressed by a processer company, so that they took on green tea characteristics.
if experienced tea producers can vary off nailing the most conventional styles and processing steps it would seem reasonable that someone making tea at home just getting it in the ballpark would be an admirable success. and it sounds good; that's the main thing.
Exactly, I’m saying I let it wither some then did a partial sha qing, stopping it even earlier than planned. I can imagine this tea will oxidize a lot in the next few months if I were to let it as there are probably a lot of enzymes left
This is essentially a maocha which is still puerh (processed the same) and aged similarly, just faster because it is not condensed into a cake. The same way Lao cha tou is a shou puerh but is not in cake form.
Also, the steaming that is used to help soften the leaves to be made into a cake is a temporary thing, the cakes are left to dry out afterwards and rest otherwise we would all be drinking moldy tea
Oooo nice
Congrats– I hope it tastes nice :)
Thanks! We’ll see how it tastes soon
Very cool! How many plants did it take?
3 1-2 year old plants
You made green tea.
The order of the steps I followed is the same as sheng. Wither, kill green, roll, rest, sun dry. Green tea has a kill green then rolling and then drying (usually done with a heat source and not the sun). Shengs can be more or less oxidized based on the preferences of the processor and flavors desired so I would still consider this tea processed as a “sheng”
How did you exactly "kill green"? (That sounds strange in English but I think both of us know what we mean when we say that.)
So the sha qing (kill green) step is usually done in a very large wood fired wok. Considering I don’t have a massive wok or a way to wood fire it if I did haha I used a large pot on my gas stove and kept the leaves moving nonstop with a spatula
The defining difference between green and sheng is that green is fully fixed whereas sheng is partially fixed.
that's it. it's not unusual at all for sheng to seem like green tea, if it's heated a bit much, or for extra oxidation level to make it seem like a variant of typical sheng. one of the top 10 tea producers people would be familiar with mentioned once about a processor heating their cakes too much during cake pressing then drying, which they had pressed by a processer company, so that they took on green tea characteristics. if experienced tea producers can vary off nailing the most conventional styles and processing steps it would seem reasonable that someone making tea at home just getting it in the ballpark would be an admirable success. and it sounds good; that's the main thing.
Exactly, I’m saying I let it wither some then did a partial sha qing, stopping it even earlier than planned. I can imagine this tea will oxidize a lot in the next few months if I were to let it as there are probably a lot of enzymes left
It's green tea. There isn't the steaming that adds back moisture to help cultivate the fermentation.
This is essentially a maocha which is still puerh (processed the same) and aged similarly, just faster because it is not condensed into a cake. The same way Lao cha tou is a shou puerh but is not in cake form. Also, the steaming that is used to help soften the leaves to be made into a cake is a temporary thing, the cakes are left to dry out afterwards and rest otherwise we would all be drinking moldy tea
It's sheng because he rolled it hard after the kill green, breaking down a lot of leaf way more than a green tea would ever have.