Green Tea Fundamentals Pt 2: Harvest & Kill Green

Have you ever considered the effect of harvest season on your green tea? The endless variations in green tea arise from four fundamental elements:

1. Region and Plant Variety
2. Harvest Season
3. Processing Method
4. Brewing Method

This article is an introduction to harvest season and the first step of processing green tea: stopping fermentation in the fresh tea leaves. Click the link above to view our last article on region and plant variety!

Harvesting Green Tea

Harvest Season

A fact that may surprise some green tea drinkers is that the season of harvest matters a good deal to the final product.

Spring

The most prized harvest season for green tea is spring, because the leaves have more energy and tasty compounds at that time of year. Green teas harvested in spring are the most flavorful, the most delicate, and the most sweet.

Fall

The number two season for green tea is autumn. Fall harvests are less sweet but have a stronger fragrance than teas from spring.

Summer

Summer is rarely a good season to harvest green tea, because it is too close to the spring harvest. This will result in tea that is less flavorful, more bitter and astringent. It also causes too much stress on the tea plants, which won’t remain healthy for as long a time. Respectful gardeners allow their plants to rest during the summer season and do not over-pick the leaves.

CC Fine Tea’s Mountain Green Tips and Dragon Well green teas are both harvested in spring, for the best fragrance and flavor.

Harvest Method

Tea leaves for making green tea can either be plucked by hand, or harvested with a cutting machine. The top-grade, most expensive green teas are always plucked by hand. 

It is important to process the tea leaves as soon as possible after picking, to prevent fermentation from happening. If the leaves are wet from morning dew, and they will be hot air or pan fired, then they are quickly air-dried to remove excess moisture before starting the “kill green” processing step.

1st Step of Green Tea Processing: Kill Green

Green tea processing includes three steps between harvesting and packaging. These are:

1. Stopping Fermentation
2. Rolling
3. Drying

Fermentation, in this case, means that the enzymes in the tea leaves react with oxygen to begin breaking down some compounds and building new ones. This process is necessary to create oolong and black tea, but is undesirable in green tea, since it will interfere with the tea’s freshness.

To stop the enzymes from working, the leaves must be sufficiently heated. This process is often called “kill-green.” There are three different ways to heat the leaves effectively:

Steamed Green Tea

In the oldest historical kill-green method, hot steam is applied to the leaves to stop fermentation. Steaming creates the most fresh appearance and taste, usually fairly grassy and sweet. Although there are some Chinese green teas that use this style, it is most commonly used in Japan where Sencha and Gyokuro teas are steamed. Matcha, powdered green tea, is also in this category.

Pan Fired Green Tea

Pan fired teas are made using large, hot woks to directly apply heat to the leaves. These teas have a distinct zip to them that is said to contain more energy than other styles. Great skill is required to properly pan fire tea, which brings out its beautiful floral aromas. The most famous example of a pan-fired green tea is Dragon Well.

Hot Air Fired Green Tea

The newest of the four kill-green methods is hot air, which can also be used to stop fermentation. In this style, a long rotating cylinder is heated and then the leaves are tumbled inside, essentially baking. Mountain Green Tips (also called Mao Feng) is made in this style, and it is from this heating that fruity and chestnut notes are fully evoked.

Steamed, pan-fired, and hot air fired green teas each have a unique personality. Which one is your favorite?

Thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed this article. Stay tuned for the next entry in the Fundamentals of Green Tea series: Rolling and Drying. Happy Sipping!

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