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Emporium Tea is not a process, it is more of an art as much as it is not a brand, it is a philosophy. Leaf to lip Emporium Tea is an infusion, made by brewing the dried leaves of a plant called “Camellia Sinensis”. The procedure of harvesting our green tea leaves is called plucking. To watch tea leaves being plucked is fascinating, yet a highly skilled task and traditionally is carried out by those with a more delicate touch and this is why we employ the services of the female species. These ladies have been passed the know-how through many generations. The tea pluckers pass between the rows of tea bushes, carefully selecting only two leaves and one unopened leaf bud to ensure our final product is of the required and highest quality. The practice is always carried out every seven to ten days. An Emporium plucked green leaf always enters the process in the best possible condition. A tea factory is often found on larger estates or might be a stand alone building servicing the plucking of the small tea gardens which are abundant in fertile tea growing areas. Mostly built by British tea planters these grand white painted high buildings are hives of activity with solid wooden floors and massive machines creating our favorite beverage. Little has changed in the process of creating tea in these buildings in the last 100 years. On arrival at the factory the leaf is inspected by the factory managers. Once the load is weighed it goes straight to the upper floors where they are spread out on “withering” racks which allow a free current of air to circulate through them until they are devoid of some of the moisture they carry. In the rainy season, controlled withering is sometimes necessary, where powerful fans provide warm air. The “withering” process for Emporium Tea takes between 8 – 10 hours before the leaf is fed in to the rolling machines on the ground floor, which breaks up the cell structure of the leaves and releases the natural juices and enzymes that give the tea its characteristic flavour. Another result of the rolling stage is that the leaves get twisted.
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