Chapter 2: Reading the Tea Leaves

This chapter tackles the chemistry that underlies the processing of tea leaves, beginning with their harvest and ending with the dried leaves. It sketches the steps that lead to the six different styles of tea: black, green, white, yellow, pu’erh, and oolong. The chemical changes wrought by the withering, enzymatic oxidation, firing, sweltering, and fermenting of tea leaves are described.