The Step That Makes or Mars Every Cup of Assam

Before a leaf is ever rolled or crushed, it spends 9 to 18 hours doing nothing but losing weight in a long metal trough. Here is what withering actually does to the leaf, why CTC and orthodox want it done to different degrees, and what a factory's wither percentage really measures.

Malt Is Built Late, and Separately From Color

Theaflavins and thearubigins build steadily as the leaf oxidizes. The malt note does not. It is a small family of Strecker aldehydes, stockpiled slowly during withering and mostly burned into aroma in the final heat, on its own separate clock.