Making of Top Tea

Global tea consumption

Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. The annual global consumption is approximately 3 million tonnes. India is the top tea producing country in the world, followed by China, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Argentina and Bangladesh. However, in terms of tea exports, India ranks in fourth position, preceded by Sri Lanka, Kenya and China.

The fastest growing demand is currently in Africa, with an average of 5% growth per year. Over the last two decades, there has been a multi-fold increase in the fight for share of stomach due to the large variety of foods and beverages available to consumers. Patterns of food and beverage consumption have undergone a paradigm shift, with consumers increasingly seeking satisfaction from the ‘overall experience of food’, which includes flavour, presentation and ambience. Another emerging trend is the importance of being attributed to the health benefits of food and beverages. In order to keep abreast of these changes, tea marketers are attempting to change the image of drinking tea as an ‘old world drink’ and are developing new varieties and forms so as to boost consumption, as well as promoting the multiple health benefits of drinking tea.

Making of Top Tea

Top Tea is made from high quality dried leaves of the plant Camellia Sinensis. Top Tea is 100% tea and is supplied in tagless round tea bags. The round teabags were first introduced in Nigeria and were the first round teabags to be produced on the African continent.

The Top Tea brand consistently satisfies demand for a tea product of superior quality and taste. Top Tea is the only locally packaged round and tagless tea bag in Nigeria. The 26 teabag box pack is packaged with an inner foil liner, whilst the 4’s, 26’s and 100’s soft packs are packed in a bi-laminate flexible packaging. Both these packaging configurations ensure that the product is kept fresh to guarantee a superior taste.

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Tea making process

Estates

Tea is made from the young leaf growth (flush) of a hardy evergreen plant, Camellia sinensis. This plant thrives well in tropical sunshine and in rain and old forest soil. For commercial purposes, Camellia sinensis is grown as a bush to a height of 3 to 4 ft.

To begin with, tea bushes are grown from seeds obtained from bushes which have been allowed to grow unchecked so as to flower and produce seeds. A thatched framework over the bed protects the young seedlings from excess sun. After 12- 15 months, the young plants are put out into their permanent position in the tea plantation in regulated rows. Cuttings can also be taken from healthy plants and are used to grow plants at a faster rate.

Under good climatic conditions, it will be three years before the bush of the new plant can be picked. At higher attitudes, full maturity may not be reached for 9 - 10 years. The picking life cycle of a tea bush is averaged at 40 - 50 years (although some veteran trees can be pruned for up to 70 years).

The bushes are pruned every 1 - 3 years to promote their lateral growth into flat-topped bushes, to maintain their bush formation and to encourage production of regular flushes of tender leaves.

Picking

Before commencing processing, the leaves are picked over to eliminate stalks and other foreign matter. Normal plucking consists of picking the small unopened leaf bud and the first two tender leaves from each shoot. Tea picking or plucking goes on all year round.

Each bush is plucked every 7 or 8 days, but where bush growth is slower, the interval maybe every fortnight. This plucking exercise is a delicate and most skilled operation, traditionally carried out by women.

Withering

The picked leaves are laid out thinly and evenly and are left to the natural circulation of fresh air, or when conditions are very humid, under the circulation of fans forcing heated air over the racks. The process is called withering and takes 18 - 20 hours. The objective of withering is to reduce the moisture in the leaf until it becomes flaccid.

CTC

The leaves are then put through rollers to break up the leaf cells and release the natural juices and enzymes to give the leaf its characteristic aroma. The leaves come out of the rollers in shape of twisted lumps. These are then broken up on vibrating sieves called roll breakers and finer leaves come through the sieves first and are taken away. The remainder is again rolled and sieved, the process being repeated between 4 to 5 times.

Fermenting

The leaves from the roll breakers are taken into a fermenting room where they are spread on glass or cement tables in a cool, humid atmosphere - this process involves the oxidisation of the tea leaves called ‘fermenting’. This is completed in 3 hours and the leaves turn to a bright copper colour.

Drying

The leaves are then fired in large iron chambers in which continuous blasts of hot, dry air is forced. After half an hour, oxidisation stops and the tea leaves will keep until the tea reaches a teapot. The tea leaves are sieved and graded according to sizes using different sized meshes.

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Grading

Tea grades vary from country to country and from estate to estate. Three distinct types of tea enter the world market but all come from the same type of plant. The difference is in the manufacture and not the cultivation:

There are also two main black tea grades, namely Broken and Leaf. The Broken grade comprises the small sizes of tea leaves and is further divided into Broken Orange Pekoe, Broken Pekoe, Broken Pekoe Souchong, Fannings and Dust.

The Leaf grade comprises of larger sizes of tea leaves and is divided into Orange Pekoe, Pekoe, and Pekoe Souchong. These terms merely denote specific sizes or appearances of leaf and have no reference to quality. However, Broken grades normally give a darker liquid and stronger tea than the Leaf grades.

Packing

After sorting and careful examination to remove any extraneous matter, each grade of tea is packed into aluminium and paper-lined chests.

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