SA Chai HoldingsOrthodox Tea
Orthodox tea is loose-leaf tea made using traditional methods — plucking, withering, rolling, fermenting, drying, and sorting, largely by hand. It's considered the most authentic tea-drinking experience, with more complex flavour and aroma than mass-processed tea, and no additives needed.
Darjeeling leaves are almost always processed as Orthodox tea — Darjeeling is virtually never used to make CTC tea.
Orthodox teas are often associated with a range of wellness benefits: caffeine and catechins that support metabolism, L-theanine for stress relief, digestive support, polyphenols linked to healthy blood sugar levels, antioxidants, cholesterol support, and immune-supporting compounds like catechins, theophylline, and theobromine. This is general information, not medical advice.
Five kinds, one traditional method.
Black Tea
Fully oxidized during production, giving it a dark colour and rich, bold taste. Popular examples include Darjeeling, Assam, and Ceylon teas.
Green Tea
Minimally oxidized, retaining much of its natural colour and flavour for a fresh, vegetal taste. Varieties include Sencha, Dragonwell, and Mao Feng.
White Tea
The least processed of all teas — simply air-dried, retaining a delicate, subtle flavour. Bai Mudan (White Peony) and Silver Needle are well known.
Oolong Tea
Partially oxidized, sitting between black and green tea. Offers floral, fruity, or nutty notes. Popular varieties include Tie Guan Yin and Da Hong Pao.
Yellow Tea
A rare type undergoing a unique slow-drying process, giving a mellow flavour with a sweet, floral finish. Examples include Jun Shan Yin Zhen and Meng Ding Huang Ya.
A detailed, mostly manual process — 12 to 16 hours.
Plucking
Tea bushes are ready for harvest when they begin to "flush," producing new leaf shoots. For black Darjeeling tea, this means hand-picking the top two leaves and a new bud. Plucking happens four times a year: the first flush in March, the second in May, a monsoon flush in July, and a final autumnal flush in October. Once picked, leaves must reach the processing facility within hours to prevent premature oxidation.
Withering
Large fans blow warm air through troughs, reducing the moisture content by 45–55% over about 10 hours.
Rolling
The withered leaves are rolled between flat surfaces, breaking the cell walls and releasing enzymes that accelerate fermentation. This takes approximately 2 hours.
Fermenting
The rolled leaves move to a climate-controlled room to ferment for up to 4 hours — a stage that directly shapes the tea's flavour and aroma. Over-fermentation can spoil the batch.
Drying
The fermented leaves are dried in an oven above 100°C (212°F) for around 30 minutes, halting fermentation and locking in the final flavour.
Sorting & Packaging
The finished tea is sorted by size and quality using mesh sieves before packaging, ensuring only leaves of the appropriate grade make it to the final product.