ELEMENTS VITAL to ‘QUALITY’ TEA MANUFACTURE
Manufacture
The first picture below, is of the old hessian shelved tat system which made it extremely difficult to get any control on the withering of the leaf.

Old hessian tat withering system
The second picture shown below is of the Experimental shed erected at Le Vallon Group in 1961 to carry out the trials with Mr. Redlich of the Tea Research Institute (T.R,I) at Talawakele for the new Woods Trough Withering system before it was accepted and in particular before the Insurance company would accept these troughs being installed in the factory lofts, to replace the hessian shelving system. By December 1962 I had completed 208 trial runs.
Preliminary TRI Trough Withering Tests Le Vallon
The pdf above shows some of the first run trials that I undertook for the TRI

Experimental shed at Le Vallon Group for Tea Reasearch Institute trials – 1961
The third here is of two of the Woods withering troughs installed and working in a factory loft. This is now the standard system for withering the leaf for either the traditional rolling system and also for the Rotorvane or the Cut Tear and Curl (CTC) not that the curl is very evident. Certainly one of the modern advances that has proved to be a huge advance on the old hessian tat System.
TRI Woods Trough Withering Test No:208 Le Vallon
The above pdf shows Test No: 208 which was one of the last batch carried out in December 1962 before the troughs were passed for installing in the factory lofts.

The Woods withering troughs installed in a factory loft
Manufacture is the most important phase of all in quality production, once the disciplines have been followed in the field. I have discussed pruning and the age from pruning in the document on field works. The night before the receipt of the following days leaf the tea-maker will assess which fields the divisions are sending in and what yields that they anticipate. In a six division estate, he will be receiving at least 6 fields of new leaf and 6 of old field leaf. The new fields will need a different approach to the old. He will consider whether they are new VP planted fields or old seed stock.
The field work history of each of the fields will be known to the tea-maker. Whether they are Assam jat (a large fleshy leaf), China jat ( a small tough leaf) or a mixture of both types of leaf, whether it is rainy season leaf or dry season leaf and finally whether the field is a newly planted field or perhaps just recovering from pruning. All this will determine his rolling programme and the pressures applied, plus the length of fermentation.
The picture below is of the curved battens in the base of the Traditional (Orthodox) roller and it’s central cone which twist the withered leaf as it is pressured down onto this bed. The type of batten or cone could be interchanged and this altered the manufacture. The central cone is attached to a heavy brass door that is dropped down to allow the leaf to fall into a trolley so that it can be taken to the Roll Breaker for the leaf to be cooled and a Dhool to be extracted. A full manufacture produces several dhools or batches of leaf that have had sufficent rolling, ready for grading.

In 1992 Le Vallon group built a separate shed opposite the main factory and installed two ‘Woods’ trough withering systems which were run as trials for the Mr. Redlich of the Tea Research Institute (TRI) at Talawakele and I ran a large number of trials for which I have retained the records. A separate shed at that time was used as the system had burners that produced heat with a fan to drive the heat along the trough under the leaf laid above. The TRI wanted complete testing before the system was passed. Heat is mainly used in wet periods whereas in dry periods fan driven air sufficed. Not every modern development can be said to be truly successful but the trough withering system was a huge advance over the old system of two or three lofts of hessian banked shelving (See photo top right). Later the troughs were installed into a loft in the factories once the insurers allowed this and often one loft of troughs would replace two or three lofts of the hessian system.
In the dry periods fermentation can take 35 minutes to 3 hours and in wet periods heat will be applied which will affect leaf quality. The picture below is the old traditional twist roller which produces the finest grades for top character teas. The system is more expensive to run as each roller requires two workers to run it bur nothing has yet bettered this system in my opinion.

Traditional rollers in line, nearest being charged with leaf from withering loft above- Swings in an elliptical motion
Present day policy in the factories using traditional rollers to develop large grade loose teas, tends to favour a four roll programme especially for the larger grades or in the Rotorvane system, a two roll programme, followed by two rotorvane passes to produce maximum levels of BOPF and BOP grades. The roller is often a 47” roller charged with 250 Kilos of withered leaf every 55 minutes. Final capacity is determined by the drier output. The drier operates at 180 to 200 o F and arrests the fermentation process, as well as lowering moisture level ideally down to about 2 or 3 % which is ideal for keeping the tea and should never be exceeded. Over 5 % and the leaf loses its sheen and becomes dull and grey looking as well as losing quality.

A modern Rotorvane system with conveyor
Rolling produces friction which creates heat, an enemy of quality tea production. Thus it is wise not to continually go down the route of excessive runs particularly with Rotorvanes. In the flavoury districts like Uva manufacture can take place after midnight to try and use lower temperature in the rolling rooms, helping the management of the volatile oils expressed during rolling which can easily evaporate and be lost. Below is an example of how temperatures rise and how the tea-maker tries to control them.
Rotorvane & C.T.C. systems are more liable to create excessive frictional heat & shattering of the leaf with dusty particles compared to the Traditional system.
Actual examples from a Traditionally rolled batch:
Room Temperature: 60 ° F
After one roll: 83 ° F
After Roll Breaking: 70 ° F

Close-up of the double mincing chambers- wet mashed leaf exiting
Roll breaking is when the dhool (batch) is discharged from the roller and passed over the roll breaker which has a vibrating sieve. The leaf that passes through the sieve is accepted as the first dhool & sent to the fermentation process. The leaf that passes over the sieve is sent to the next roller for further conditioning.
Manufacture of traditional teas is a highly skilled operation. Tea-makers train for decades as juniors, before being promoted. Manufacture is a huge subject with varying opinions and it is only possible to give you a flavour of the subject here. Obtaining top quality teas and maximum flavour in high season is an enormous operation with close liaison between estate and ourselves. Estates normally run for maximum levels of the smaller BOPF and BOP grades in the high dry seasons to emphasize flavour. Asking for large grades in high season means special runs upsetting their normal programmes. Emphasis on FBOP grades at this time will degrade the smaller grades and prices will reflect this. Certain estates have been very co-operative even allowing special runs at night to obtain cooler conditions. Our whole ethos in working with the estates in this way is to promote their individual identity to the public, something that has been lost over the years. We believe that this connection between consumer and producer is vital for the consumer to be able to appreciate and keep in contact with the process that delivers their cup of tea, day in and day out. Hopefully then they will begin to appreciate this truly amazing work that goes on to make ‘tea’.
Manufacture has changed from the methods used up to the 1970’s, largely because of the introduction of the tea bag. Prior to this, Ceylon teas satisfied the connoisseur who wanted maximum development of flavour and leaf that was pleasing to the eye. Large leaf teas with a good black look and as much tip (bud) as possible. 1960’s B.O.P. grades were marketed at 3 times the size of present day B.O.P’s which are cut & cut to suit the commercial market. Below I have tried to summarize the present trend which tends to follow certain elevation criteria.
The Programme we used in the 1960’s used 5 traditional twist rollers *.
The aim was to produce the finest appearance of the leaf with a good size of leaf.
The picture below is a modern fluidised leaf Drier for the final firing process.

A fluidised bed drier
With the traditional twist roller system we were only able to turnout 1,730 lbs of made tea per day. This was achieved with a 3 roll system and the rollers could be of various types, we were using Jackson 36 inch & 28 inch rollers. On the 3 roll system we would charge 2 rollers for the first charge of 500 lbs of withered leaf into the two rollers (250 lbs each), 2 rollers for the second rolling charge, reducing to 1 roller for each of the last rolls. Between each rolling we extracted what we call a dhool which is the leaf that is dropped through the bottom of the roller table into a trolley and then passed over a roll breaker. The roll breaker is a long vibrating machine with wire mesh base that is made to different sizes, dependent on the size of leaf that one wishes to extract also allowing the leaf to cool as it is vibrated over the metal mesh sifter, the leaf that passes over the sifter is returned to the next two rollers to be rolled again, when another dhool is extracted. These dhools then become graded by leaf size. A rolling took 35 minutes to complete and after 20 minutes, the 1st. roller was cleaned & ready for action again with the start of the 2nd. programme whilst the first was progressing through the other rollers situated on the rolling room floor and this process can continue for 7 programmes in a normal day. This entails 6 programmes charging two rollers at 500 lbs between them and a final programme where 660 lbs was charged into the two rollers. These 7 programmes totalled took a total of 3,660 lbs of withered leaf turning out 1,732 lbs of made black tea.
The tea-maker would decide on a) the amount of pressure to apply to the screw and often this could be half pressure for the first roll and then full pressure for the last two rolls, however he would only apply the cap down for approx 4 minutes and then release the cap for 2 minutes to allow the leaf to churn and also most importantly cool. The churning allowed the leaf at the top to come into contact with the roller table at the bottom .
7,481 lbs of green leaf plucked from the field became 3,660 lb (49 % moisture loss) after withering and this became 1,732 lbs of made tea as shown above after firing the days total manufacture which gave a 23 % outturn from the original 100 % of green leaf plucked by the pluckers and a moisture loss of 77 % over the whole programme for the day, charging the same rollers 7 times in a day.
1980’s onwards
Today because of the commercial drive to smaller leaf, the estates have had to change the manufacture system. This means that as a rule of thumb three systems have developed: N.B. A Kilo or Kg = 2.2 Lbs
- 1. In the High grown area above 1,066.80 metres (3,500 feet) elevation:
Areas like Dimbula, Nuwara Eliya and Uva. However it must be stated here that there are still some estates that operate the traditional rolling system and do not have the rotorvane system installed. Where rotovanes are installed the estates often use 2 of the traditional type rollers with a charge of 275 kilos each rolling for 30 minutes to give the leaf what is called a conditioning roll that is to ensure some initial gentle twisting & expressing of cell juices before the leaf then enters into a 15 inch rotorvane where the leaf is passed through with a screwing action. There is no dhool extraction at either of the two above operations. The Dhool is merely the traditional name for the batch of leaf that is released from the traditional roller or rotorvane to pass it over the roll breaker sieves which will cool the Dhool but also extract part of the batch for grading. The Rotorvane machines can have either one 15 inch or two 8 inch rotorvanes. Inside the vanes or worm can be set to a forward cutting position = less aggressive cut or else to a reverse cutting position which then allows a much more aggressive cutting action. The leaf is fed to a hopper situated above the double shafts or barrels by a conveyor system. The cut leaf emerges as a wet mash from the barrels & as has been explained in the high grown programme above the 1st. Dhool is collected from the 2nd. Rotorvaneing in a dhool trolley which then proceeds to the roll breaker system and from there to the fermentation tables to achieve the correct level of oxidisation in the case of black teas. This means that the greenish leaf will slowly turn to a coppery colour and as the right stage is reached it must be fired to arrest any further oxidisation occurring. We aim at black leaf being fired to 1.5 or 2.0 % moisture, at no time should tea be allowed to rise above 4 % moisture. This allows for the leaf to lose up to 1.5 % or possibly 2 % moisture in packing, storage & use by the consumer. This shows how vital it is to store quality leaf which is very hydroscopic away from any source of moisture or strong smells. These last two processes of fermentation & firing apply to all manufacture
2nd. Rotorvane Pass – 2 x 8 inch rotorvane barrels. 1st Dhool is extracted at approx 15 % or 82 kgs having passed over a breaker with size No: 8,8 & 7 meshes.
3rd. Rotorvane Pass – 2 x 8 inch barrels and the 2nd dhool is extracted at approx 30 % or 165 Kgs, passing over a breaker with size No: 8,8 & 8 meshes.
4th Rotorvane Pass -1 x 8
Dhool Extraction – No: 8,8,8 meshes.
3rd Dhool – 39 % -214 kgs
5th Rotorvane Pass – 1x 8”
Dhool Extraction – 8,8,8 meshes
4th Dhool – 12% – 66 kgs
Big Bulk – 4% – 23 kgs
From the above High grown programme the following outturn of grades would be expected:
B.O.P. grade leaf 20 % Small leaf
B.O.P.F. grade leaf 43 % Very small leaf (tea bags)
Dust 1 grade 20 % Best Dust poor quality tea bags
P. grade leaf 5 % A large leaf grade = Main saleable grades 88 %
Off grades:
F. 1 (Fannings) 8 % Very small leaf
Dust 4 % = Off grades poor prices 12 %
- 2. Medium grown teas 533.40 metres (1,750 feet) – 1,066.80 metres (3,500) feet elevation Kandy districts:
Here the estates will usually be using the traditional twist rollers, as explained for 1960’s above:
The Tea-maker will usually apply a fairly low pressure in the roller to start with and then increase to full in the 2nd & 3rd. rolls, reverting to half pressure on the last roll. The rollers rotate at 36 RPM (Revs per minute) with a Crescent A type batten for twist.
Use Dhool breaker with mesh sizes: 5,5 & 6.
Grade %’s obtained:
B.O.P. 20 % – B.O.P. Sp 20 % – B.O.P.F. Sp 4 % – B.O.P.F. 5 % – F.B.O.P. 6 % –
FF1 7 % – FFSp 1 % – P. 1 % – P.1 = 1 % – O.P. 1 % – O.P.1 = 3 % – B.O.P.1 = 3 % –
D.1 = 4 % – Dust 2 % – B.O.P.1A = 12 % – F. 3 % – F.1 = 7 %
- 3. Low grown teas = sea level to 762.00 metres (2,500 feet) includes Ruhunu and Sabaragamuwa districts:
Here again they are after good looking large grade teas where even the B.O.P. grades will be larger, using a larger mesh size for extraction, plus the much favoured O.P. – O.P.1 – O.P.A & P. grades, plus specialist tippy (buds showing) grades like F.F.Sp and F.F.Ex.Sp. The roller speeds are set lower at 32 RPM & the pressures are lower at touch or low pressure, moving to half pressure for two rolls & finally back to touch for the last roll. The low country uses a Crescent B type batten for twist. Rolling lasts some 20 minutes as against that used in the 1960’s and the mid country elevations today which are 30 minutes. This difference in speed, pressure and batten type are enabled by the type of leaf at this elevation which is highly photosynthesised and in a climate that is hot & humid.
These low elevation estate factories are usually small privately owned family estates who have taken the trouble to invest in a factory and then encourage other small private lands in the immediate area around the factory to supply their leaf for manufacture. They are paid a green leaf rate per kilo supplied to the factory and that estate factory markets the finished product.
These low elevation estates were largely planted from the 1980’s onwards and have proved very profitable over the past 20 years with increasing yield from the new bushes. However the yield on some of these estates has started to decline and unless the areas are replanted their profitability will suffer. The teas are in great demand from the old CIS countries, the Middle East, Japan and to some extent Germany.
The predominate character of these teas is a combination of some dryness on the palate combined with a caramel or honey sweet taste to the brew.
Source: I am grateful to Mr. Harish Wanasinghe who provided me with notes on the present factory practices.
Summary of above:
I suppose I would compare trying to bring back appreciation of ‘Real Tea’. That is teas that have been crafted in a season at a single estate, to the Renaissance of craft beer and cider making in the United Kingdom in recent years as against the commercial product from the large companies in their vast factories and then buying up the public houses so that they are contracted to selling their beers.
All the above theoretical programmes start with 10,000 kgs of green leaf with a 42 – 44 % loss in weight after withering
The Fluidised Bed Drier (FBD) has an output of 270 kgs of leaf per hour. Medium & low elevation driers have an output of approx 250 Kgs per hour.
The mesh size numbers e.g. 8 = 8 holes per inch or a metric equivalent.
Finally it can be seen that the low country relies heavily on traditional rollers, the mid-country still has a predominance of Traditional rollers but also has some factories operating on CTC & rotorvanes. The high grown areas have moved to using both system of manufacture, some estates have installed the Rotorvane system although an estate like Chystler’s Farm still operates with traditional system of manufacture to obtain large leaf O.P. grade tea. Where estates rely on extracting quality large grades of leaf such as a Nuwara Eliya F.B.O.P. they will use the traditional rollers In 2009 we requested a special Lover’s Leap seasonal O.P. manufacture and this concentrated on the older rolling programme. If the international industry has to bow to the demand for small leaf teas, at least the Ceylon tea industry is retaining a good measure of flexibility of machinery and not travelling down one specialised route. However the pressure in recent years has been so great that I fear that there may be huge changes being discussed, that may come to pass. If my fears are realised there will be little to comment about on the teas from one country or another.
One factory with which we work very closely had been requested by one commercial U.K. client to use one roll with the traditional roller and then five passes in Rotorvanes which will raise the temperature in the rotorvane above 90 ° F. On this sort of programme the factory is aiming at an outturn of :
30 % small modern B.O.P. grade + 60 % of small modern B.O.P.F. grade leaf, a total of 90 % outturn of these two small grades, leaving the rest to Dust, B.M. and waste tea at 3 % which can include some 1 % of fluff & fibre dust best applied to the flower beds on the estate.
The manufacture comments above with regard to seasonal quality production, apply to black teas and green teas can be made at any time of year when there are a few days of reasonable dry weather. With the latest research showing that black teas have slightly higher antioxidants than green teas but that some of those antioxidants are not as effective in the human system, the overall effect is that both teas are as good for the human system as each other but work in different ways in the human body. Research seems to suggest that black teas control the acidity level in the stomach which is important in maintaining balance. Green teas usually use a steaming process & the rollers can be traditional or special small Japanese rollers as in the picture shown here.