How green tea is made

The difference between green and black tea is heat: green tea is cooked within hours of picking to stop the leaf from browning.

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things upstream: 1
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The short version

Green tea is made from leaves that are heated almost immediately after picking, by steam in Japan or by pan-frying in China. The heat deactivates the enzymes that would turn the leaf brown. The leaves are then rolled to shape, dried, and often given a final firing before being sorted, blended and packed.

Pick the fresh shoots

Bushes are pruned in rows to send up even shoots, and the crop is harvested three times a year in many places. Processing starts within one to two days of picking.

Goes in
Tea leaves
Heat to halt browning

Leaves are steamed, as in Japan, or tossed in a hot dry wok or rolling drum, as in China. This step, called fixation, kills the enzymes that would otherwise oxidize the leaf. Steaming gives a sweeter, grassier cup.
Roll and twist

Leaves are rolled by hand or between machine plates. Rolling twists them into thin needles or small pellets and releases some juice and oils from inside.
Dry to a crisp

Warm air or heated pans drive off the remaining water. Methods include oven-drying, tumble-drying and basket firing.
Chill the rough tea

Japanese rough tea, called aracha, is stored under low humidity in cold stores. It is kept in paper bags at 0 to 5 °C until it is finished.

0–5 °C in 30 or 60 kilogram bags
Final fire and sort

A last firing develops the flavor and dries the leaf fully. Stems and flakes are removed to refine the aracha.
Blend the batches

Most Japanese tea is blended from leaves grown in different regions. The blend is chosen for a consistent taste before packing.

End of the lineGreen tea

Worth repeating

Gunpowder tea gets its name because each leaf is tumble-dried into a small pellet that resembles gunpowder.
Sencha is 80% of all tea made in Japan, and 90% of it comes from a single cultivar, Yabukita.
Chinese green tea was originally steamed, but after the early Ming dynasty it was typically pan-fired in a dry wok.