## [Periodic Table of Tea-Making](/tea_making_element_table) *Submitted by yiguo2000 on Wed, 16 Sep 2026 - 10:37* .tea-periodic-wrap { overflow-x: auto; padding-bottom: 8px; } .tea-periodic-grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 150px repeat(13, 108px); grid-auto-rows: 82px; gap: 6px; width: max-content; } .tea-cell { position: relative; } .tea-cell .card { width: 100%; height: 100%; } .tea-cell .card-body { padding: 6px 4px; } .tea-symbol { font-size: 1rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.1; } .tea-en { font-size: .68rem; line-height: 1.15; } .tea-zh { font-size: .68rem; line-height: 1.15; opacity: .85; } .tea-marker { position: absolute; top: -6px; right: -6px; width: 20px; height: 20px; font-size: .7rem; line-height: 20px; text-align: center; padding: 0; } .tea-step-no { position:absolute; top:2px; left:4px; font-size:.6rem; opacity:.7; } .tea-row-label { display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center; padding: 4px 10px 4px 2px; line-height: 1.25; } .tea-row-label .en { font-size: .78rem; font-weight: 700; } .tea-row-label .zh { font-size: .72rem; opacity: .75; } .tea-row-label .sub { font-size: .68rem; font-style: italic; opacity: .65; } /* One extra hue Bootstrap's theme colors don't cover */ .tea-olive { background-color: rgba(107,142,35,.35); border: 1px solid rgba(107,142,35,.6); border-left: 4px solid #6b8e23; } .tea-row-label.olive { border-right-color: #6b8e23 !important; } .tea-indigo { background-color: rgba(63,81,181,.35); border: 1px solid rgba(63,81,181,.6); border-left: 4px solid #3f51b5; } .tea-row-label.indigo { border-right-color: #3f51b5 !important; } .tea-rose { background-color: rgba(199,91,122,.35); border: 1px solid rgba(199,91,122,.6); border-left: 4px solid #c75b7a; } .tea-row-label.rose { border-right-color: #c75b7a !important; } @media (max-width: 576px) { .tea-periodic-grid { grid-template-columns: 130px repeat(13, 88px); grid-auto-rows: 76px; } } Season, oxidation family, processing steps, shaping, roast level, terroir, leaf lineage, and Japan's rare post-fermented teas — the "elements" that combine to produce every tea on the market. Scroll sideways on small screens. Harvest Season Oxidation Family Processing Steps Fixation Method Oolong Aroma Roasting Method Shaping Roast Level Terroir & Picking Leaf Lineage Aged / Post-Ferment. Harvest Season Oxidation Family Oolong Aroma↳ sub-type of Oolong Processing Steps Fixation Method↳ sub-type of Kill-Green Shaping Roast Level Roasting Method↳ by heat source Terroir, Picking & Leaf Color Leaf Lineage Aged / Post-Ferment. Sp Spring Su Summer Au Autumn Wi Winter Gr Green Wh White Ye Yellow Oo Oolong 1 Bl Black Da Dark Cl Clear-Floral Fl Floral Fr Fruity Rf Ripe-Fruit/Honey 1 Cg Rich Caramel 7 1 Pk Picking 2 Wt Withering 3 Sn Sun-With. 4 Ox Oxidation 5 An Anaerobic 6 Kg Kill-Green 7 Ye Yellowing 8 Rl Rolling 9 Mf Microbial 10 Pf Pile Ferm. 3 11 Dr Drying 12 Ro Roasting 13 Ag Aging Pn Pan-Fired Bk Baked St Steamed Sf Sun-Fixed St Strip Bl Ball Nd Needle Fl Flat 2 Sp Spiral Cp Compress. Lt Light Md Medium Hv Heavy 4 Ch Charcoal El Electric Fi Far-Infrared (Elec.) Lh Leafhopper 1 Hm High-Mtn. Hp Hand-Pick Mp Mach-Pick Nm Normal Green Pu Purple Bud/Leaf 5 Al Albino/Etiolated La Large-Leaf Sm Small-Leaf Md Intermediate Sh Raw / Sheng Ri Ripe / Shou 3 Gf Golden-Flower Ao Aged Oolong Aw Awa-Bancha Go Goishicha Bt Batabata-cha Is Ishizuchi-Kurocha 6 Researcher, **Yiguo Chen** · Formosa Phoenix Tea Farm © 2026 Yiguo Chen. Original compilation — feel free to reference or share with credit to the author. Suggested citation: Chen, Y. (2026). *Periodic Table of Tea-Making*. Formosa Phoenix Tea Farm. Example teas (marker numbers above) 1**Oriental Beauty** — Summer, Oolong, leafhopper-bitten, heavy withering, ball-rolled 2**Dragon Well** — Spring, Green, pan-fired, flat-pressed shape 3**Ripe Pu-erh** — Dark family, pile-fermented, compressed into a cake 4**Da Hong Pao** — Oolong, high-mountain, heavy charcoal roast 5**Zi Yun / TTES No.25** — Intermediate lineage, purple-bud cultivar, high anthocyanin 6**Ishizuchi-Kurocha** — two-stage fermentation (aerobic fungal + anaerobic lactic), ages like pu-erh 7**Red Oolong** — Taitung, oolong's highest oxidation, 20–60hr repeated roasting, Maillard-driven caramel/malt sweetness Dark-tea sub-types note: raw (sheng) ages naturally over years; ripe (shou) uses pile fermentation (wo dui) to compress decades of aging into weeks, invented at Kunming Tea Factory in 1973; golden-flower (jin hua, *Eurotium cristatum*) is a different fungal route used in Hunan's Fu brick tea. Oolong aroma note: this progression tracks oxidation degree, roughly matching Baozhong (10–15%, clear-floral), high-mountain oolong (15–30%, floral), and Oriental Beauty (50–60%, ripe-fruit/honey) — but it's a guide, not a strict rule; cultivar and processing can shift the result. A fifth stage, rich caramel, sits beyond honey: Red Oolong (Taitung) pushes oxidation to oolong's upper limit and adds 20–60 hours of repeated roasting, so Maillard/caramelization notes stack on top of the fruit-honey base — officially still a "roast-fragrance ball oolong," not black tea, even though the liquor looks amber-red like one. Roasting note: heat drives off residual moisture, triggers the Maillard reaction between sugars and amino acids (the source of caramel/nutty notes), and — per common tea-trade claims — reduces caffeine at high heat (partly sublimation, partly thermal decomposition; this specific mechanism isn't independently verified here). These are sequential/ concurrent chemical changes, not parallel categories, so they're described here rather than turned into grid cells. Roasting method note: infrared radiation isn't unique to any one method — any hot surface radiates it, charcoal included, more so at higher temperatures. What actually distinguishes these three is the *heat source*: charcoal is direct combustion (adds smoke/charcoal character); electric and far-infrared are both electrically powered, with far-infrared using a specific radiant-panel element rather than a plain resistance coil, claimed to give deeper, more even penetration. ## Phenol-Amino Ratio Quick Reference Phenol-amino ratio = total catechins ÷ total amino acids. Lower ratio → sweeter, mellower; higher ratio → more astringent, more body. | Tea | Oxidation | Catechin retention | Phenol-Amino tendency | Flavor | |---|---|---|---|---| | Green | 0% | 100% | Low | Fresh, grassy | | White | ~10% | ~90% | Low–Mid | Sweet, delicate | | Baozhong / Light Oolong | 8–25% | ~75–90% | Mid | Floral, bright | | Dongding Oolong | 25–30% | ~70–75% | Mid–High | Mellow, lingering finish | | Tieguanyin | ~40% | ~60% | High | Rich, deep throat-feel | | Oriental Beauty | 50–60% | ~40–50% | High \* | Honeyed, intense | | Black | 100% | lowest, converted to theaflavins/thearubigins | Highest | Full-bodied, low bitterness | \* Oriental Beauty is an exception: leafhopper-bitten leaves trigger extra biochemical changes, so its aroma intensity doesn't track the ratio alone. What else moves the ratio - **Altitude** — high-mountain gardens (>1000m) lower catechins, raise theanine → lower ratio, mellower cup. - **Season** — spring tends lower ratio (slow growth, more amino acids); summer tends higher (fast growth, more catechins). - **Cultivar** — e.g. TTES No.12 (Jinxuan) has a higher catechin baseline than Qingxin Oolong in raw material. - **Terroir** — even the same cultivar can vary catechin content nearly 3× across growing regions. ### tags - [製茶技術](/zh-hant/taxonomy/term/271) [Log in](/user/login?destination=/tea_making_element_table%23comment-form) or [register](/user/register?destination=/tea_making_element_table%23comment-form) to post comments [](https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fformosa-tea.com%2Ftea_making_element_table&title=Periodic%20Table%20of%20Tea-Making)