Golden Tips Tea

They are the highest in caffeine, but still have antioxidant properties, just not quite as much as others

Withering:

The objective of withering is to reduce the moisture in the tea leaves by up to 70% (varies from region to region). Tea is laid out on a wire mesh in troughs. Air is then passed through the tea removing the moisture in a uniform way. This process takes around 12 to 17 hours. At the end of this time the leaves become limp and pliable and therefore will roll well.

Rolling:

Leaves are placed into a rolling machine, which rotates horizontally on the rolling table. This action creates the twisted wiry looking tea leaves. During the rolling process the leaves are also broken open, which starts the third process - oxidisation.

Oxidisation:

Once rolling is complete, the leaves are either put into troughs or laid out on tables whereby the enzymes inside the leaves come in contact with the air and start to oxidise. This creates the flavour, colour and strength of the tea. It is during this process that the tea leaves change colour from green, through light brown, to a deep brown, and this happens at about 26 degrees centigrade.
This stage is critical to the final flavour of the tea, and if left too long the flavour will be spoilt. Oxidisation takes from between half an hour to 2 hours.
This process is monitored constantly with the use of a thermometer along gut feeling of concerned persons with years of experience. The tea then passes to the final stage of drying.

Drying:

To stop the oxidising process the tea is passed through hot air dryers. This reduces the total moisture content down to about 3%. The oxidisation will be stopped by this process, and unlike Green or Oolong teas, Black teas, during the production process, undergo a full oxidation (usually called fermentation) which causes the leaves to turn black and gives them their characteristic flavour.