Wo Dui: How Pile Fermentation Makes Dark Tea
The defining step for dark tea is piling, wo dui (渥堆), and it turns the category into something alive.
Tag: Ageing
Key Process Points for Dark Tea
Dark tea has the longest process in tea, and its control points are spread over weeks or months.
How Dark Tea Is Made Across Regions
Dark tea is made in four or five provinces, and each one ferments and shapes the leaf differently.
Dark Tea: Hand-Made Versus Machine-Made
Where hand work still matters in dark tea, and where machines took over.
The Dark Tea Process, Step by Step
Dark tea starts like a green tea and then diverges, which is what makes the category confusing.
The Plucking Standard for Dark Tea
What leaf is picked for dark tea, and why the plucking standard drives grade.