Pan-Firing
Pan-firing is fixing or drying tea leaves in a hot wok or rotating drum; it gives most Chinese green teas, such as Longjing, their toasted, nutty flavor.
Definition
Pan-firing (炒, chao) means heating tea leaves by direct contact with a hot metal surface, either a wok worked by hand or a rotating metal drum. It is the most common kill-green method in China, used for Longjing, Bi Luo Chun, Huangshan Maofeng and most other Chinese green teas, and for fixing oolong and pu'er maocha. In hand firing, the maker presses, tosses and shakes the leaf against the wok. The movements also shape the tea. Longjing is pressed flat against the pan in a sequence of hand techniques that give it its smooth, sword-shaped leaf. Bi Luo Chun is rubbed into tight spirals while it dries. Gunpowder green tea is rolled into small pellets during later firing stages. Machine drums now do most of the work for everyday grades, and many premium teas combine machine fixing with hand finishing. Pan-firing produces Maillard-type reactions on the leaf surface, which add the toasted chestnut, roasted soybean and nutty notes typical of Chinese green tea. Japan has a small pan-fired tradition too: kamairicha, made mainly in Kyushu around Ureshino in Saga prefecture and in Miyazaki prefecture, uses iron pans instead of the usual Japanese steaming.
In Depth
Brewing pan-fired green: 75-85°C (167-185°F) water, 3 g per 200 ml for 2-3 minutes western style, or 4-5 g per 100 ml in a gaiwan with 30-60 second steeps. Pan-fired teas usually tolerate slightly hotter water than steamed Japanese teas because the fixing reduces some raw grassy compounds.
Hand versus machine: hand-fired Longjing often shows small variation in leaf shape and color, some faint scorch spots and a deeper roasted aroma. Machine-fired leaf is more uniform and greener. Neither is a fraud marker by itself; price and origin claims should match.
Common confusion: pan-firing as a kill-green step is different from the later roasting of oolong. Pan-firing happens on fresh, moist leaf in minutes; roasting is done on finished, dry tea over hours.
See Also
- Chinese Green Tea
- Kamairicha