Drum fixation vs pan-firing
Almost all Chinese green tea is now fixed in a heated rotating cylinder rather than in a wok, and the two are usually described interchangeably as pan-firing. The heat transfer is different, and so is what the leaf can be made to do while it is being fixed.
processing method
What is being compared
Point by point
| Aspect | Drum fixation | Pan-firing (Chinese fixation) |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanism | Leaf passes continuously through a heated rotating cylinder, contacting hot metal and hot air briefly and repeatedly. | Leaf rests and is worked against a heated wok surface by hand or by a shaping machine. |
| Continuity | Continuous; leaf enters one end and leaves the other. | Batch, and the batch size is limited by the pan. |
| Shaping during fixation | Not possible; the drum fixes and nothing more. | Possible and normal — flat shaping happens while fixation is still in progress. |
| Surface browning | Less, because contact time at any one point is short. | More, which is where the toasted, chestnut character of pan-fired green tea comes from. |
| Uniformity | High. | Depends on the operator, and skilled operators are scarce. |
| Where it is used | The great majority of Chinese green tea production. | Hand-made green tea, and any tea whose shape is set during fixation. |
The short answer
A drum-fixed green tea is not a lesser pan-fired one; it is a tea that was fixed without being toasted, and it tastes accordingly. The shapes that require the wok — flat-pressed Longjing above all — cannot be made in a drum, which is why the two survive side by side rather than one replacing the other.
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