Sencha producing process 2

This is the continuation from the previous entry.

c. Junen

EQUALIZE MOISTURE in the leaves by rolling with pressure.  This stage does not involved heating.

After junen, the leaves lose sliminess.

d. Chuju

Loosely ROLL and DRY

The leaves get deep green.

e. Seiju

Tightly roll into NEEDLE SHAPE on a thing like washboard.

1.   Drying

At the last step, the leaves are dried in a dryer.

Each step is processed on a different machine and it takes a half of a day to finish the entire process.  The machines can be controlled by a computer program and can make tea automatically.  But, I saw staff taking out the leaf samples from the line once in a while, and checking the leaf’s condition.  And, they adjusted the setting of the machines and determined the amount of time needed until the cycle is done. 

The most striking words from one of the staff were “Machines do not produce tea but our senses do.”

Control panel of a machine