The oxidation of Wuyi Rock teas reach about 80%，but the raw leaves, even after tumbling, remain relatively green. A crisp green apple aroma permeate the facility, as batches go from the 12 hour tumbling process to firing in the rotating hot ‘wok’- at nearly 200 C, this firing can only take place for 10 minutes to 殺青 ‘kill the green’, to fix the leaves. Then a rolling process and then drying through a couple more rounds, and one whole production sequence ends by the next day. Charcoal fire baking will take place sequentially for another 2 months. Wuyi Rocks teas have many production quirks all earned by experience, explained Mr. Zhang, our Wuyi tea master. That’s why few people in the world can make Oolongs, despite delegations coming from other countries to check out the machines and try to learn the process. Everything is done by smell, touch, decades of experience, and built on the backs of thousands of years of tradition.
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