Known for their many benefits (antioxidant, thirst-quenching, uplifting, soothing), green teas are non-oxidised teas that offer a wide variety of aromas and flavours. The leaves go through 3 processes: roasting, rolling and firing.
Stages of green tea manufacturing
Roasting
▪ Roasting kills enzymes in the leaves causing oxidation. ▪ For this, the leaves are brutally heated to a temp. of above 100°C, in large pans (the Chinese method) or by steam cooking (the Japanese way), for 30 sec to a few mins. ▪ The leaves thus become soft and easily bendable for the rolling process
Rolling
▪ The leaves are then rolled by hand or by machine depending on the origin et the grade of the tea. ▪ This stage gives them the appearance of small sticks, balls, coils or actual tea leaves. ▪ The operation can be carried out either hot or cold, according to the fineness of the harvest. ▪ Young shoots are easily rolled cold due to high water content, as opposed to more mature leaves which require immediate rolling after the roasting process, while they are still hot.
Firing
▪ The leaves are dried on racks called "tats" with hot air being circulated for 2-3 minutes. ▪ Then this process stops for half an hour leaving the leaves to rest, after which drying is repeated until the moisture content of the leaves is no more than 5 to 6%.