Green teas undergo the least transformation of all their processing is still done manually for the most part. Only three steps are required to make green teas, but each of these is crucial to the quality of the finished product. The first step is a brief steam roasting of tne freshly gathered leaves which allows for the deactivation of the enzymes that would cause fermentation in a few seconds, and for the conservat on of the leaf's original colour. After a cooling and drying period, the leaves are rolled to create tight little balls, the rolling breaks up the leaf cells and frees the distinctive aromas. The balls are then dried and dehydrated by rolling them into smaller and smaller balls until they attain the shape of a needle. All of these steps, from the harvesting to the treatments the leaves are subjected to, determine the quality of the tea. For example, teas cultivated in direct sunlight, known as sencha, make for a more refreshing drink; those grown in shadow, or gyokuro, are milder. The first harvest of the year, May, yields very fine, tender leaves that are used to make sencha and gyokuro, The summer harvest produces the leaves used to make bancha, a stronger-tasting tea that nevertheless contains less caffeine. Gyokuro teas are considered by connoisseurs to be among the finest green teas