The diagram depicts the manufacturing process of different types of tea from tea leaves.
Overall, the process of tea production involves several stages, beginning with cultivation of tea plants and completing with the final packaging. While tea leaves go through only three steps to become white tea, the production process of the remaining teas involve extra treatment.
In the initial stage, tea leaves are harvested until they reach maturity. After being cultivated, the leaves undergo a withering process to reduce their moisture content, making them easier to process later. The next step depends on the types of tea produced. For instance, to produce white tea, the withered leaves are brought to oven drying, which is the completion of the process. Other teas, in contrast, require additional stages.
While green tea is produced by steaming and rolling tea leaves, Oolong tea does not need to steam but demands a slight fermentation step after rolling. Besides, both types of black teas undergo a full fermentation; however, the size of tea leaves depends on how they are rolled or crushed, becoming large leaf and small leaf respectively. Next, all teas go through a drying process to halt fermentation and preserve their flavor.