The tea leaves are harvested from the Camellia sinensis plant. Green tea is made from the top two leaves and buds. The majority of tea is still harvested by hand but mechanical picking can also be done depending on the tea variety. If harvest by hand, usually stems with a shoot and two or three opened leaves are picked.
The leaves are then quickly heated—by pan firing or steaming. The goal is to reduce water content by 50-70%, halting the oxidizing and fermentation action of enzymes on the leaves, preserve their green color and remove the "grassy" odor. If the fermentation is not completely stopped, the tea liquor will be red.
Withering is also used, which spreads the tea leaves on racks of bamboo or woven straw to dry in the sun or using warm air. Withering times are used for different teas – for Chinese green tea 2-4 hours, Japanese green tea 30 -60 minutes.
Pan-frying: Tea leaves are tossed around in a dry, hot wok by hand, where the tea processor must fry them until they give back just the right amount of “bounce.”
In Japan, steaming is normally used. Steaming: Tea leaves will be rotated through a metal cylinder where they will be flushed with steam. The tea leaves are steamed using non-pressurized steam. The length of the steaming process is said to be a key determinant in the tea's flavor, aroma and color.
Next step: Rolling. In most countries, rolling or shaping green tea leaves is done by machinery. In China, high-end leaves are hand-rolled into various shapes, including curly, twisted, pointed, round, and more. Rolling is a crucial step for shaping the appearance. The tea leaves should look brightly green instead of yellowish and they should smell fragrant instead of stuffy.
The goal of the last step is to reduce the water content of the tea leaves down to 3-6%. This allows long-term storage and responsible for many new flavor compounds particularly. At the same time improve its appearance.
Processing of green tea
