To create green tea, the leaves are plucked and then treated in a similar five step process.

Withering - Tea leaves are spread out in large groups and left to wither, losing some of their moisture.

Steaming - After the leaves wither and lose some of their moisture during the first step, they are immediately steamed or pan fried. This stops the oxidation process before it can really get started -- in a way, it's almost like putting car wax on your car to keep it from rusting.

Rolling - In the orthodox method, the leaves are now rolled so the remaining moisture is released, coating the surface of the leaves with its juices. This method is particularly gentle, so the tea leaves are usually left whole and unbroken. The CTC method, however, chops the tea leaves into tiny pieces, and you're left with a more dust-like substance.

Drying - The leaves are dried with hot air, and the color changes from copper to brown or black.

Sorting - The final process involves sorting the tea leaves by size and grade.