Tea Processing & Green Leaf to Made Tea
Makes green leaf
Enter your fresh green-leaf weight and recovery to get the made-tea out-turn, moisture/waste, leaf-to-tea ratio and made-tea value — your true finished yield.
Enter your batch
Next: expect ~225 kg made tea (ratio ~4.4:1); pluck two-leaves-and-a-bud, process fresh, and control withering/firing for quality.
Out-turn and style vary (black/green/orthodox vs CTC); fine plucking lowers out-turn slightly but lifts quality and price.
Tea processing — key facts
- Made tea kg
- green leaf × recovery %
- Moisture/waste
- green leaf − made tea
- Recovery
- ≈ 22–24% of green leaf
- Leaf:tea ratio
- ≈ 4.3 kg leaf per kg tea
- Weight drop
- Mostly moisture loss
- Fine plucking
- Two leaves + a bud
- Price driver
- Grade & plucking quality
- Privacy
- Runs in your browser; nothing uploaded
Four kilos of leaf for one kilo of tea
Fresh green leaf is mostly water, and tea making is largely the business of driving that water off. Withering, rolling, fermenting and drying shrink the leaf to made tea at about 22–24% of its plucked weight — roughly 4.3 kg of green leaf for every kilogram of finished tea. Knowing your recovery turns plucked weight into the figure that matters: how much made tea you actually have to sell.
This tool gives the made-tea kilograms, moisture/waste loss, leaf-to-tea ratio and made-tea value from your green-leaf weight and recovery. Pluck fine — two leaves and a bud — to lift both grade and price, keep an accurate factory out-turn record, and value the lot on graded made tea. Pair it with the Dehydration Ratio and Value Addition Profit tools for the full picture.
Know your out-turn
Turn green-leaf weight into real made tea.
See the moisture loss
Understand why ~77% leaves as water.
Pluck fine for grade
Two leaves and a bud lift quality and price.
Value the finished tea
Quote graded made tea, not green leaf.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is tea processing recovery?+
Recovery (or out-turn) is the share of fresh green-leaf weight that ends up as made tea after withering, rolling, fermenting and drying. It runs about 22–24%, so 100 kg of green leaf gives roughly 22–24 kg of made tea. Nearly all of the lost weight is water driven off during processing.
How is made-tea recovery calculated?+
Made tea kg = green-leaf weight × recovery percentage. Moisture/waste = green-leaf weight − made tea kg. For example 100 kg of green leaf at 23% recovery gives 23 kg of made tea and 77 kg of moisture and waste. The leaf-to-tea ratio is green-leaf weight ÷ made tea — about 4.3 at 23%.
Why is the leaf-to-tea ratio about 4.3?+
Fresh green leaf is mostly water. As it withers and dries, that water leaves and the solids concentrate into made tea at roughly 22–24% of the original weight — so you need about 4.3 kg of green leaf for every kilogram of made tea. Moisture loss dominates the weight drop, not solids loss.
What is a good recovery percentage?+
Most factories recover 22–24% made tea from green leaf. Coarse leaf and high moisture push it lower; fine, well-plucked leaf processed well sits at the top of the range. The figure varies with leaf condition, weather and how the leaf is handled between field and factory.
Why does fine plucking matter?+
Fine plucking — two leaves and a bud — lifts both quality and price. The young shoot has the flavour, briskness and chemistry buyers pay for; coarse plucking dilutes quality and value even if it adds weight. Better plucking standards mean a better grade and a higher rate per kilogram of made tea.
What sets the made-tea price?+
Grade and quality set the price, and those start in the field with fine plucking. Bright, well-twisted, well-fermented teas with good liquor fetch a premium; coarse, poorly made teas are discounted. Careful plucking, transport and processing protect both recovery and the grade you sell at.
What is the lost weight if it is not tea?+
It is mostly water. Fresh leaf is around 75–80% moisture; processing drives that down to about 3% in finished made tea, so the bulk of the weight loss is moisture rather than solid waste. A small share is genuine waste — stalk, fibre and fannings sorted out during grading.
Does this work for any quantity or unit?+
Yes — enter your green-leaf weight in kilograms, quintals or tonnes and the tool scales made tea, moisture/waste, ratio and value to match. The recovery you set drives the split, so use a figure from your own factory record for the most accurate out-turn.
How do I estimate made-tea value?+
Multiply the made-tea kilograms by the rate per kg for your grade. Because grade swings with plucking and processing quality, value on graded made tea rather than green leaf, and aim for fine plucking to lift the rate you can command.
Are the figures precise?+
They are solid planning figures. Real recovery varies with leaf condition, moisture, plucking standard, weather and processing. Keep your own factory out-turn record on a known green-leaf weight, then use this tool to scale the leaf and value the made tea.