In the days of China’s Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–907), freshly plucked tea leaves were steamed, pounded with a pestle and mortar, compressed into cakes, and dried. To prepare the tea for drinking, the cake was broken into pieces, ground to a powder, sifted, and boiled in water in a cauldron. During the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1279), tea producers continued to compress the leaves into cakes, but they also manufactured loose-leaf teas. To make the cakes of tea, small buds and shoots were carefully gathered and then rinsed four times to make sure they were completely clean. Next, they were steamed, cooled, pressed to extract as much water as possible, and pressed again to extract some of the juices in the leaves so that the tea would not taste too bitter and strong when brewed. The leaves were then pounded with water to make a paste, which was poured into a mould and repeatedly heated, roasted, and blanched in boiling water. The cake of tea was dried very slowly over low heat, then cured and smoked. Sometimes other flavourings, such as camphor, were added. The entire process took between six and 15 days, depending on the thickness of the cake. Once ready, they were wrapped in bamboo leaves or silk or were packed inside bronze or silver containers. To make dried loose-leaf tea, the freshly harvested tea was stored in a sack inside a sealed earthenware jar. Several months later, the jar was opened, and the dried leaves were prepared for brewing.
