Roasting the Tea Leaves: Select high-quality Longjing tea leaves and roast them until they are about 80% cooked to preserve their aroma and flavor.
Grinding into Powder: Place the roasted Longjing tea leaves into a grinder and grind them into a fine powder. This step allows the tea powder to be better pressed into shape.
Pressing: Place the ground tea powder into a mold and apply appropriate pressure to bind it tightly together, forming a cake shape. The shape and size of the mold determine the final appearance of the tea cake.
Drying the Tea Cake: Place the pressed tea cake in a dry, well-ventilated environment to dry, usually for 35 days. During the drying process, the tea leaves gradually lose moisture, and the cake structure becomes more stable.
Inspection and Storage: Dried Longjing tea cakes are typically yellowish-green, relatively flat, with a diameter of 10-14 cm and a weight ranging from 150-400 grams. The finished tea cakes can be stored as needed. If you want to brew tea, you can shave the Longjing tea cake into powder before brewing.
