Temomi・The Art of Hand-Crafted Tea
製茶手揉 (sei-cha-te-momi), if you want to be super literal, means production (製) of tea (茶) via hand (手) massage (揉). The official translation and most of the terminology can vary. Hand-rolled tea or hand tea-rolling is common, older materials went with tea hand rub, I've seen manual tea production used, you get the idea.
With the art of Temomi being classified an Intagible Cultural Property (無形文化財) in Japan, and Japanese teas growing in popularity overseas, I feel it's worth nailing down these terms in a way that can be consistent and understandable for an international audience.
| Harvest & Preparation | ||
| Hand Picking (手摘み) | Fresh leaves are plucked from the field by hand. Ideally, you want to snap off the branch just below the top bud and two adjacent leaves. This is known as 一芯二葉 (isshin niyō), or one (一) center (芯) bud and two (二) leaves (葉). | |
 
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| Steaming (蒸し) | Leaves are steamed in small batches to halt oxidation. The apparatus used is a large metal drum filled with water, atop which is placed a wooden baskest with a metal grill that allows steam to rise through. Two large wooden sticks are used to stir the leaves and ensure they are steamed evenly. | |
 
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| Preliminary Shaping | ||
| Toss & Dry (葉振い) | After steaming, leaves contain a lot of water and become sticky and tangled. Tossing them helps separate the leaves and allow airflow to remove excess moisture. | |
 
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| Speed Rolling (軽回転) | Literally, light (軽) rolling (回転). The hands are used to gently pull leaves across the surface. The key is to allow the leaves to roll, not drag, so they begin twisting into shape. The high speed helps remove moisture and separates the leaves and stems. | |
 
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| Kneading (重回転) | Heavy (重) rolling (回転) similar to kneading bread dough. Leaves are kept together and rolled slowly with much greater pressure. This squeezes out internal moisture, further shapes the leaves, and breaks apart their structure to allow for better leeching of flavor and nutrients. | |
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| Detangling (玉解き) | ||
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| Halfway Point (中上げ) | ||
| Sorting & Shaping | ||
| 仕上揉み (Finishing Roll) | ||
| Palm Twisting (揉切り) | asdf | |
| Scatter Rolling (散らし転繰) | asdf | |
| Palm Kneading (強力転繰) | asdf | |
| Sort & Press (こくり) | asdf | |
| Final Touches | ||
| Drying (乾燥) | asdf | |