Green Tea

About

Green Tea Green tea is first discovered and used by our ancestors. It is also the most productive and most widely-consumed, known as the "national drinks." There are numerous famous brands of green tea, such as West Lake Longjing, Biluochun, Huangshan Maofeng and so on. Green tea is of the gentle and reserved nature, and the liquid is clean and chilly with quiet fragrant aroma, giving people a green and quiet enjoyment. It is ideal for sips. What's more, green tea has more significant health effects than other kinds of tea. Green teas are often referred to as "non- fermented" or "unfermented" teas. The freshly picked leaves are allowed to dry, then are heat-treated to stop any fermentation (or oxidation) that would rot the leaf. In China, traditional hand-making methods are still employed in many places, particularly in the manufacture of China's finest teas, but some factories have introduced a mechanized process. By the traditional method, the fresh green leaves are spread out in a thin layer on bamboo trays and exposed to sunlight or natural warm air for one or two hours. The leaves are then placed, a small amount at a time, into hot roasting pans and moved about quickly with the hands, as they become moist and soft and the natural moisture evaporates. (A small amount of China’s green teas are steamed rather than roasted). After four or five minutes, the softened leaves are rolled into balls on bamboo tables (in the larger factories, this was traditionally done with the feet) and the tea balls are then again placed almost immediately into the hot roasting pans and moved about rapidly before being rolled for a second time or being left to dry. After one or two hours, the leaves have turned a dull green and undergo no further change. They are finally sifted to separate them into different-size pieces of leaf. In Japan, the plucked leaves are steamed quickly on a moving belt, making them supple and soft ready for rolling. They are cooled and then repeatedly rolled,