Herbal Tea Production Line
The seven core processes
Custom Complete Solutions for All Types of Plant Herbal Tea Beverages
From PET bottles, glass bottles and aluminum cans to disposable large barrels and stand-up pouches, Zhonglian Machinery delivers fully customized plant herbal tea production lines to match every one of your production demands. Whether you manufacture cooling herbal tea, flower infusion tea, functional herbal drinks or plant-based beverages, our tailor-made integrated systems adopt precision UHT sterilization and hot filling technology to ensure stable product quality and long shelf life. Covering full procedures from water treatment, herbal extraction, blending sterilization to end-of-line packaging, we support diversified packaging formats with stable, high-efficiency turnkey equipment.
Comprehensive Advantages of the Production Line
- Convenient Maintenance: The stainless steel body is easy to clean and corrosion-resistant, with universal spare parts and low later maintenance cost. Full CIP cleaning system ensures long-term sanitary production conditions.
- Wide Compatibility: One production line supports PET bottles, glass bottles, aluminum cans, pouches and other packaging formats, and easily switches between cooling herbal tea, flower tea and functional herbal beverages.
- Controllable Quality: Fully enclosed production throughout the process. Dual sterilization of UHT and retort ensures commercial sterility of products, and multi-stage filtration guarantees clear and stable product state without sediment.
- User-friendly Operation: Touchscreen human-machine interface with visual parameter adjustment, easy to master even for new operators. The system supports formula storage and one-click switching for multi-variety production.
- Flexible Capacity: Flexible equipment configuration to match small workshops and large-scale factories, with a wide range of capacity options from 2,000 to 30,000 bottles per hour.
Classification of Herbal Tea Raw Materials by Production Process
Heat-Sensitive & Volatile Aroma Type
Rich in volatile oil and aromatic active substances; long-time high-temperature boiling will lose fragrance and active ingredients. Matched with low-temperature countercurrent extraction and sealed extraction tanks to retain natural herbal scent.
Raw materials: Honeysuckle, chrysanthemum plumeria, mint, mulberry leaf, houttuynia cordata, dandelion
High-Fiber Long-Boiling Resistant Type
High crude fiber & lignified texture, hard to dissolve active components; prolonged high-temperature simmering is required. Equipped with coarse crusher, high-pressure extraction tank and multi-stage filter for full effective substance release.
Raw materials: Roughhaired holly root, smilax glabra, prunella vulgaris, microcos paniculata, lophatherum gracile, evodia lepta
Pectin-Rich Turbidity-Prone Type
High plant polysaccharide and pectin content leads to viscous, turbid extract with heavy sediment. Supporting enzymatic clarification, centrifugal separation and frame precision filtration to avoid layering and dull luster of finished drinks.
Raw materials: Mesona chinensis, monk fruit, polygonatum odoratum, lily bulb, sterculia lychnophora
High-Tannin Bitter Taste Type
High tannin and bitter alkaloid bring strong harsh taste in raw extract. Adopt staged extraction, licorice blending and activated carbon debittering filtration to balance bitterness and improve drinkability.
Raw materials: evodia lepta, helicteres angustifolia, abrus cantoniensis, polygonum chinense, gardenia jasminoides
Other
Our herbal processing solutions are not limited to the above four categories of botanical raw materials. We can design complete turnkey production lines for any herbal raw materials from all over the world, supplying full-set equipment including raw material cleaning, crushing, low-temperature extraction, clarification, blending, UHT sterilization and filling for herbal tea, five-flower tea, heat-clearing dampness-dispelling drinks and concentrated herbal liquid.
Main Packaging Formats
The production line features strong compatibility and flexible switching between packaging formats, meeting demands of supermarkets, catering, distribution and other market channels:
PET Bottle
330ml–1.5L | Light shatterproof mass-market herbal tea packaging
Glass Bottle
200ml–1L | Airtight premium bottle for high-end herbal tea drinks
Aluminum Can
200ml–330ml | Portable pressure-resistant single-serve herbal tea container
Tetra Pak Brick
200ml–1L | Aseptic long-shelf-life brick for herbal tea beverages
- PET Bottles: The most mainstream packaging on the market, covering 330ml, 500ml, 1L, 1.5L and other standard specifications. Lightweight, shatter-resistant and easy to transport, it matches all specifications of 3-in-1 monoblock fillers with a capacity of 3,000 to 24,000 bottles per hour.
- Glass Bottles: With excellent sealing performance and premium appearance, it is mostly used for high-end herbal tea and functional herbal drinks, matched with dedicated bottle washing and capping equipment.
- Aluminum Cans: Portable and pressure-resistant, mainly for small single-serve herbal tea beverages. Matched with high-speed can filling and seaming units, it features high automation and is suitable for high-volume standardized production.
- Tetra Pak Brick: Aseptic paper-based composite packaging with excellent barrier performance, covering 200ml, 250ml, 500ml, 1L and other standard specifications. With lightweight, easy-to-carry and long normal-temperature shelf life features, it is widely used in plant herbal tea, functional drinks and other beverage categories. Matched with high-speed aseptic brick filling and sealing equipment, it achieves high-efficiency automated production with zero secondary contamination risk.
Plant Herbal Tea Production Line & Production Process Guide
Plant herbal tea beverages, represented by cooling herbal tea, flower infusion drinks and functional herbal beverages, deliver unique flavor and health benefits from natural herbal extracts. Zhonglian Machinery supplies fully automatic plant herbal tea production lines integrating water treatment, extraction, blending, sterilization, filling and packaging. With mature technology and stable operation, the lines are compatible with multiple packaging formats and cover capacities from small-batch to large-scale manufacturing, widely applied in mass production of various herbal tea products.
I. Core Production Process
The production line adopts the industry-standard hot filling process with compact workflow and full automatic control. Seven core procedures ensure stable beverage flavor, clarity and product quality:
1. Raw Water Treatment
Raw water goes through multi-stage purification including quartz sand filtration, activated carbon filtration, precision filtration, primary reverse osmosis and UV sterilization to remove sediment, residual chlorine, heavy metal ions and microorganisms. High-quality pure water effectively prevents calcium, magnesium and iron ions from reacting with tea polyphenols to form tea cream and turbidity, which is the foundation of stable color and taste of herbal tea products. Treated aseptic water is stored in dedicated tanks for subsequent production use.
2. Herbal Raw Material Extraction
Natural herbal raw materials are processed via constant-temperature immersion extraction to fully dissolve flavor substances, active ingredients and polyphenols. Extraction temperature, time and material-water ratio are precisely controlled according to different herbal formulas to maximally preserve the natural aroma and functional components of raw materials, forming the core flavor base of herbal tea products.
3. Rough Filtration & Clarification Separation
The extracted tea broth first undergoes coarse filtration to separate plant residues and fiber impurities, then is processed with high-temperature clarification technology to remove colloids, fine suspensions and macromolecular substances. This process effectively improves the transparency of the tea broth, avoids sediment and stratification in finished products during shelf life, and ensures long-term stable product state.
4. Ingredient Blending & Fine Filtration
Clarified tea broth, pre-boiled sugar syrup and food additives are delivered to blending tanks and mixed accurately according to product formulas to form standardized finished liquid. After blending, the liquid passes through duplex fine filters to intercept tiny impurities and residues, ensuring uniform and clear texture of the material liquid before sterilization. The blending system supports one-click formula switching for production of multiple herbal tea flavors.
5. UHT Instant Sterilization
The blended material liquid is sent to UHT (Ultra-High Temperature) sterilization equipment, completing sterilization within a few seconds at high temperature. This process thoroughly kills pathogenic bacteria, spoilage bacteria and spores in the liquid, while maximally retaining the natural herbal flavor and active substances due to short heating time. Sterilized liquid is stored in aseptic tanks and ready for hot filling process.
6. Automatic Hot Filling & Sealing
As the core station of the whole line, the 3-in-1 monoblock filler completes bottle rinsing, atmospheric hot filling and screw capping in sequence. The whole process runs in a fully enclosed automatic mode, with precise control of filling temperature, liquid level and capping torque to avoid secondary contamination. The equipment supports quick bottle format changeover by simply replacing star wheels and guide plates, adapting to diversified bottle specifications.
7. Finished Product Retort Sterilization
Filled and sealed finished products are sent to a water-bath sterilization retort for secondary sterilization under constant temperature and pressure. This process completely eliminates residual microorganisms inside the bottles, greatly extends the product shelf life and improves storage stability. It is an essential procedure for long-shelf-life herbal tea products, especially for normal-temperature distribution channels.
II. Main Equipment & Performance Features
The entire production line is mainly made of food-grade stainless steel, with corrosion resistance, no sanitary dead corners and easy cleaning. Core electrical and pneumatic components are sourced from internationally renowned brands. Equipped with a PLC control system and touchscreen operation interface, it achieves a high degree of automation. It is also fitted with comprehensive safety devices including overload protection, automatic stop upon bottle jamming and cap shortage detection for safe and stable equipment operation.
It consists of quartz sand filters, activated carbon filters, sodium ion filters, precision filters, primary reverse osmosis units, UV sterilizers and aseptic water storage tanks. The system stably produces high-purity water meeting herbal tea production standards, effectively prevents tea cream formation and extends the service life of the whole line.
It consists of herbal extraction tanks, sugar melting kettles, blending tanks, duplex filters and clarification equipment. The system completes herbal extraction, sugar dissolving, formula blending and impurity filtration, and delivers standardized tea liquid for the subsequent sterilization process.
It consists of tubular or plate-type ultra-high temperature sterilizers, plate heat exchangers and aseptic storage tanks. It achieves instant sterilization of material liquid, maximally retains herbal flavor and active ingredients, and provides qualified sterile liquid for hot filling process.
It includes fully automatic / semi-automatic bottle blowers, bottle unscramblers and bottle rinsing & spraying equipment. It realizes integrated bottle forming, sorting and cleaning, and is compatible with various bottle shapes and container specifications.
It integrates bottle rinsing, atmospheric hot filling and capping, with linear and rotary structures available in multiple configurable models. It is equipped with high-precision filling valves and magnetic constant-torque capping heads, and supports quick bottle format changeover for stable, efficient production.
It includes light inspection equipment, bottle air dryers, inkjet / laser coders, sleeve labeling machines, fully automatic shrink wrappers and case packers. The fully automatic workflow ensures neat packaging and clear product identification for finished herbal tea beverages.
It consists of water-bath sterilization retorts, automatic temperature control units and loading/unloading devices. It performs constant-temperature secondary sterilization on finished products, effectively extends product shelf life and ensures food safety of products in normal-temperature circulation.
It performs full cleaning for all pipelines, tanks and equipment of the production line without disassembly, with automatic dosing and cycle control. It strictly meets the sanitary standards of the food industry and maintains long-term hygienic production conditions.
It includes air conveyors for empty bottles and product conveyors for semi-finished & finished products, covering transfer between all production sections. It realizes seamless and stable material delivery between processes and improves the overall operating efficiency of the line.
Reference Table for Investment Information of Plant Herbal Tea Production Line
| Product Type | Investment Budget (USD) | Hourly Capacity (units) | Daily Output (8h shift, units) | Operators Required (persons) | Payback Period (months) |
| PET Bottled Herbal Tea | 90,000 – 170,000 | 3,000 – 6,000 | 24,000 – 48,000 | 3 – 4 | 13 – 19 |
| PET Bottled Herbal Tea | 220,000 – 550,000 | 7,000 – 14,000 | 56,000 – 112,000 | 4 – 6 | 11 – 16 |
| PET Bottled Herbal Tea | 650,000 – 1,300,000 | 15,000 – 24,000 | 120,000 – 192,000 | 6 – 10 | 9 – 13 |
| Glass Bottled Herbal Tea | 110,000 – 190,000 | 2,000 – 4,000 | 16,000 – 32,000 | 4 – 5 | 15 – 21 |
| Glass Bottled Herbal Tea | 270,000 – 650,000 | 5,000 – 9,000 | 40,000 – 72,000 | 5 – 7 | 13 – 19 |
| Glass Bottled Herbal Tea | 750,000 – 1,600,000 | 10,000 – 18,000 | 80,000 – 144,000 | 7 – 12 | 11 – 16 |
| Aluminum Canned Herbal Tea | 100,000 – 180,000 | 6,000 – 12,000 | 48,000 – 96,000 | 3 – 5 | 14 – 20 |
| Aluminum Canned Herbal Tea | 250,000 – 600,000 | 15,000 – 25,000 | 120,000 – 200,000 | 5 – 7 | 12 – 17 |
| Aluminum Canned Herbal Tea | 700,000 – 1,400,000 | 30,000 – 50,000 | 240,000 – 400,000 | 7 – 11 | 10 – 14 |
| Tetra Pak Brick Herbal Tea | 120,000 – 200,000 | 3,000 – 6,000 | 24,000 – 48,000 | 4 – 5 | 15 – 21 |
| Tetra Pak Brick Herbal Tea | 280,000 – 650,000 | 8,000 – 15,000 | 64,000 – 120,000 | 5 – 7 | 13 – 18 |
| Tetra Pak Brick Herbal Tea | 750,000 – 1,500,000 | 18,000 – 30,000 | 144,000 – 240,000 | 7 – 12 | 11 – 16 |
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