Chinese Green Tea Production

1. Harvest.   Green teas are usually harvest during early spring; some teas can be cropped year around, though. The harvesting time for high-grade teas is specified within certain days of the spring season, when teas just begin to shoot.
   
   
   
   
2. Deactivation of enzymes.   The first step of green tea production is to stop fermentation. A handful of newly-picked leaves are thrown into an u-shaped frying pan and turned over and over again till these saturated tender leaves are almost dry. You can't take them too much at a time or you will have a tea of stuffy smell and uneven color. The temperature can't too high or you will either burn the leaves or give them burnt smell.
3. Shaping.   When much of moisture of leaves are parched, they are ready to shaping. There are five common shapes in Chinese green tea - flat, needled, corded, curled and round. These differently shapes are determined by if they are pressed into 'spears' or rolled into 'pearls'. The temperature cannot too low or teas will not take shape; not too high or you'll give them burnt smell. You have to do shaping fast enough or the leaves will dry up and you'll smash them.
4. Drying.   Some high-grade teas don't need a separate drying step, for tender young leaves have dried up by the end of shaping; however, other teas have to be dried afterwards. As soon as after shaping, teas are spread on a bamboo basket and parched over charcoal fire. The charcoal fire can't have any smoke or you'll have a smoky tea. You have to turn the leaves gently or you'll either break them or lose the leaf hair. This procedure also increases the fragrance of finished tea.