⚙️ Processing
Rolling
Withered leaves are rolled under pressure, breaking the cells and switching oxidation on.
Rolling puts the withered leaves through a machine that presses and twists them. Cell walls break, the leaf's compounds meet its own oxidising enzymes, and oxidation begins in earnest.
At the same time the leaf takes on the familiar twisted shape of black tea. How hard it is rolled affects how quickly the tea brews and how the flavour comes out.