The Interpretation of Miang Tea to the International Level for Mapping Agro-Tourism Routes
Steps of Miang Leaves Processing
1. Bundling up Prepare a bundle of bamboo strips in different sizes. Larger or longer bamboo strips are used to bundle up the harvested tea leaves, while smaller bamboo strips are for pack up the leaves in smaller separated bunches called Laeb. One kilogram of tea leaves could be bundled up into three to five bunches, depending on the size.
2. Steaming Steam the prepared bunches of tea leaves. Boil water in the steam pot. Once the pot is full of steam, put the tea leaf bunches into it. Be careful not to put it in before the water starts to boil, or the tea leaves would have coarse texture and turn red, while its taste would fail to be needed by buyers. Young tea leaves take 80 minutes to steam, while aged tea leaves could take 90 minutes.
Beside the age of the tea leaves, the amount of tea leaves steam in one session matters. The more the tea leaves steamed at a time, the more time it requires. Likewise, the less the tea leaves steamed at a time, the less time it requires. One steam pot has the capacity of steaming 140 bundles of tea leaves. However, if there are less bundles to steam, choose a smaller container. There are three sizes of containers. A small container can steam no more than 100 bundles. A medium sized container can steam around 70 to 130 bundles. And large size of container can steam over 100 bundles at a time.
3. Picking out large leaf stems Without a proper tea-leaf steaming, strong smells would remain, and pulling off the leaf stems is harder. Instead, a proper steaming gives nice, smooth fragrance.
**Tips: The correct steaming and fermenting steps result in soft Miang leaves**
(Miang and tea leaves are both assam tea leaves. While young leaves are used for tea drinks, old leaves are used for Miang process. In the past, some tea plant farmers exchange their Miang leaves for rice as their living areas were not suitable for rice farming. Pests were widespread. Miang leaves were so valuable it was said they were the leaves of gold. Miang in the past was consumed as snacks or much like today’s candy. Workers would put Miang leaves in their mouth while working and keep it there. It was said to help with focusing and being happy in work.)
4. Letting it cool Let it cool down and put a basket on it to have the air flow well enough and let the fungus grow. It takes approximately 2 summer nights for the tea leaves to turn yellow which gives astringency in taste. It usually takes 3 nights or longer before it turns into black Miang with fungus growing in most part of the pack. It would now be full of flavor.
5. Water fermentation matters to the taste. Use a plastic bucket to be able to keep it tight closed. Fill in water and add a bit salt to let the leaves get softer. Be mindful about chlorine smell in tap water that could penetrate into the leaves. It takes 5 days up to 1 year to do this step. One of the most important things is never let the air in. With any white fungus developed, the tea leaves would have foul smell.
6. Adding the flavors as preferred. There are various types and tastes of Miang at the present, including original, sweet, ginger, olive, coconut, palm, and grilled coconut (Miang Mee) flavors. Each local area may have different flavors addition.