Every harvested tea begins as green tea, the oldest of all tea families. The freshly plucked sets of two leaves and a bud are either pan-fired in woks or placed in large mechanical steamers, where a steam bath kills the enzymes and prohibits oxidation. The leaves are then flattened or rolled by hand or machine and dried. Since they are not heavily bruised and oxidized, the dry leaves retain their natural dark olive-green color and their vegetative aroma and taste.
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