Green Tea

Green Tea

The leaves for green tea may or may not be withered first. Then they are de-enzymized by pan-frying. Ninety percent are done this way. Five percent are treated by steaming to make the leaves soft, and about the same amount are baked. Then comes rolling and firing, often alternately. Rolling gives famous teas' leaves their unique shape. The leaves turn a yellow-green. There is no fermentation, hence no chemical change.

Mechanization of processing began on the Indian tea estates in the late nineteenth century with hot air firing, rolling by a moving box that fed leaves onto a flat surface, mechanical sorting, and now machines which combine some steps, thus taking much less time. In China, collective farming beginning in the 1950s stimulated mechanization. Early semi-mechanization included thing like a mechanical arm to stir the leaves being fired in the large wok. Some state tea farms have been set up with a fair degree of mechanization in processing. Smaller producers bring their leaf to local factories which are generally well equipped.

The finest teas, however, are still hand-processed. The traditional skill, like that of a handicraft, has been passed down through the generations - the understanding of the relation of the heat to the condition of leaves to obtain the desired effect, the hand movements in relation to heat, the special way of shaping certain kinds, for instance Lu'an Guapian (Lu'an Melon Seeds), Gunpowder, and Lung Ching. This makes the product more costly, but the aesthetic appearance of the processed leaves is part of the art of enjoying tea. This is so highly valued that many Chinese prefer to pay more for their tea, even if it means having tea less often.

The five best known Chinese green tea are Lung Ching, Huangshan Mao Feng, Pi Lo Chun, Puto Fo Cha, and Lu'an Guapian.

China is the world's largest exporter of green tea, supplying 90% of that sold on the international market. Zhejiang province is a big producer. Of every two cups of green tea poured outside China, one is from Zhejiang, according to an official of the Zhejiang Tea Branch of the state-run China National Native Produce and Animal Byproducts Import and Export Corporation.

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