Green tea brewed with steam is called "steamed green". There are "Chinese steamed greens", "Japanese steamed greens" and "Indian steamed greens". Japan is the country with the highest production of steamed green tea.
Steamed green tea is green tea that has been steamed. Production began as early as the Tang Dynasty, when the steamed green tea was steamed green dough cake tea. Later, the method of making steamed green tea was introduced to Japan and has been followed to this day, and developed into Japanese steamed green tea, of which steamed green tea is the main product.
The process of steaming green sencha is divided into the following steps: storage, steaming, rough kneading, kneading, medium kneading, fine kneading, and drying.
The fresh leaves of steamed green tea should be picked from shoots with high chlorophyll content and harvested as much as possible. Therefore, the fresh leaves are required to be kept as fresh as possible. If there are many leaves, ventilation is needed to store the green leaves. Do not damage the buds and leaves. Control the temperature and maintain a certain humidity.
The fresh leaves enter the steamer and are steamed with hot steam at 100°C for about 30 seconds until the leaf temperature reaches 98°C. The steamed leaves are put into a defoliator to cool down and remove excess moisture from the leaf surface, and then rough-kneaded using 95°C hot air. The rough kneading time is about 45 minutes. Partial water loss reduces leaf weight by approximately 55%. Then knead for 20 minutes. After the initial strips are formed, knead medium. While kneading and pressing, hot air is introduced to dissipate moisture. After about 40 minutes, the leaves have lost 70% of their weight and are then finely kneaded.
The fine kneading temperature is 90℃, and the leaf temperature reaches about 40℃. After about 40 minutes, the leaves lost 75% of their weight. Finally, drying is performed at 80°C. After about 30 minutes, the drying is completed when the moisture content of the tea leaves reaches 5%. Once cooled it is ready for packaging. To prevent deterioration, vacuum packaging should be used.
The quality of steamed green sencha is fragrant, mellow, and three greens (i.e. dry tea green, soup color green, leaf base green). The Japanese call this steamed green sencha tea a naturally flavored tea with "color, aroma and taste". At present, the steamed green sencha produced in my country is mainly exported to Japan, with very little domestic sales.
"Chinese Steamed Green" includes cactus tea, sencha, and gyokuro tea. The quality of Hubei cactus tea highly praised by the poet Li Bai is more distinctive. The cactus has a flaky appearance, emerald green, hairy appearance, and a refreshing aroma.