How tea is made - the whole process!

"Tea Factory : Watch how tea is grown, collected / harvested, processed in a traditional factory, then packed and sold in the market.

Tea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods. ""Tea"" also refers to the aromatic beverage prepared from the cured leaves by combination with hot or boiling water, and is the common name for the Camellia sinensis plant itself. Although tea contains various types of polyphenols, ""contrary to widespread belief, tea does not contain tannic acid"".After water, tea is the most widely-consumed beverage in the world. It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavour which many enjoy. There are at least six varieties of tea: white, yellow, green, oolong, black and pu-erh of which the most commonly found on the market are white, green, oolong and black.A tea's type is determined by the processing which it undergoes. Leaves of Camellia sinensis soon begin to wilt and oxidize, if not dried quickly after picking. The leaves turn progressively darker as their chlorophyll breaks down and tannis are released. This process, enzymatic oxidation, is called fermentation in the tea industry, although it is not a true fermentation. It is not caused by micro-organisms, and is not an anaerobic process. The next step in processing is to stop oxidation at a predetermined stage by heating, which deactivates the enzymes responsible. With black tea, this step is executed simultaneously with drying.Some teas are not pure varieties, but have been enhanced through additives or special processing"