The finest, most tender upper leaves make the best grade of tea. The leaves below the top three on a branch make a lower grade of tea. The pickers walk through the gardens and toss the leaves picked into a cotton bag slung around the head and supported by the forehead. It reaches down to their waist, and bulges out as it fills up. After the picking, the leaves are tossed in a shallow layer onto a very large screen.
Strong blowers blow air over the leaves for about an hour, depending on weather conditions.
This is the initial drying process. Thereafter, they are left to ferment for approximately 30 minutes. Then, the sorting and cutting process begins, which ends in the tea being mixed, graded and eventually bagged for auction. The pictures below show the process step by step.