By Nelson Mandela Muhoozi
During a recent visit to Uganda, David Mutangana, a seasoned tea trader from Rwanda, provided valuable insights into maintaining and enhancing tea quality.
His expertise, shaped by years in the industry, offered practical advice that can significantly impact tea farming practices.
Education, good husbandry
Mutangana’s first piece of advice emphasized the importance of education in good husbandry practices for tea bushes.
He underscored the necessity of plucking tea within the optimal 14-day cycle to maintain quality.
Adhering to quality parameters for green leaf standards is crucial, and Mutangana’s mantra of “2 leaves and a bud” stands as a fundamental principle for fine plucking standards.
Why fine plucking is key
Explaining the significance of fine plucking, Mutangana highlighted how it directly affects the desired characteristics of a perfect cup of tea: wholeness, full aroma, briskness, and flavor.
“These characters are responsible for good cup quality,” he emphasized, linking cultivation practices to the sensory qualities of tea.
Mutangana also shared the economic benefits of fine plucking. Beyond enhancing cup quality, it boosts yield efficiency due to shorter plucking rounds, according to him.
In contrast, he said coarse plucking has a detrimental impact on quality, leading to open leaves, reduced density, and increased machine workload, which ultimately inflates costs.
Rwanda’s unique, strict standards
Drawing parallels to Rwanda’s tea landscape, Mutangana described the unique terroir characterized by high elevations, fertile volcanic soil, and moderate temperatures.
These factors contribute to Rwanda’s distinctive and sought-after tea character.
He credited the stringent quality standards enforced by Rwanda’s National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) and regular training sessions for tea makers for maintaining high quality.
Key tips for farmers
Mutangana offered several key tips for tea farmers:
Educate Farmers: Emphasize good husbandry to take care of tea bushes.
Optimal Plucking Cycle: Pluck within the 14-day cycle to prevent overgrowth.
Quality Parameters: Set and adhere to quality parameters for green leaf standards.
Fine Plucking Standards: Follow the “2 leaves and a bud” principle to achieve 85% of the desired tea characteristics.
Chemical Balance: Avoid lower leaves, as their chemicals dilute the liquor.
Enforce Good Leaf Policy: To ensure a high-quality final product.
Plucking and Processing
Fine plucking, according to Mutangana, leads to a desirable cup of tea characterized by wholeness, full aroma, briskness, and flavor.
He said these attributes are crucial for good cup quality and higher yield due to shorter plucking rounds. “Avoiding coarse plucking is essential, as it compromises quality by producing open leaves with low density, overworking machines, and raising costs,” he noted.
Withering, fermentation
Setting optimal parameters for withering and fermentation is another crucial aspect, according to Mutangana.
“Proper withering results in brighter and brisk liquors, which are highly desired. Fermentation under optimal temperature and aeration controls leads to the desired characteristics recognized by tea tasters, impacting the tea’s market price,” he said.
Leaf appearance
According to Mutangana, the appearance of the manufactured leaf must be clean and free from fiber and stalks, which can cause the leaf to appear brownish, an undesirable trait.
Clean leaves free from stalks and fibers, he said, earn better prices.
“Additionally, leaf size should be uniform and true to the grade, such as BP1, PF1, PD, and D1, without any mixing.”
