crymad > wrote in message >...

> > I've heard that attributed to the fact that the Japanese have a higher
> > standard of living than the Chinese, and thus lack the requisite
> > underpaid laborors to pluck and shape the leaves perfectly: from what
> > I was told, the Japanese rely more on machines than the Chinese.
>
> The Japanese do rely heavily on machines for modern tea processing. But
> I don't believe the needle-like appearance of Japanese dry leaf is a
> cost-saving by-product of industry. The machines mimic the the hand
> rolling process. In fact, hand-rolled tea ("temomi") is still available
> in Japan. albeit at a very high cost, and the thin, needle-like form of
> these teas is even more pronounced.

Traditionally green leaf was hand rolled in China on palms of the
hands rotating anticlockwise ninety degrees out of sync. In Japan
leaf was hand rolled backwards and forwards between hands and a flat
surface.
Thus in China there is twist and curl - ultimately giving the
gunpowder pellet. The orthodox rolling table, particularly the double
acting type, is based on the rotating hand action. In Japan the
forwards-backwards hand motion forms cylindrical needles, and Japanese
green tea machinery mimics this action and product.

Nigel at Teacraft