Different Types of Green Tea

Have ever been to a supermarket and noticed that the market sells only one type of green tea named “Green tea” on its packet? Well, many might have observed that. Thus, does it mean that there is no variety in green tea? The answer is no. In the present day, Green tea is one of the foremost consumed tea types. Over the years, green tea is being produced in large quantities and also in different varieties. In supermarkets, the green tea packets available contain the absolute lowest quality of green tea.

Let us Have a Bit of Brief Information Regarding Green Tea.

Green tea, because of the nutritious and natural elements retained in it, is additionally called non-fermented or unfermented tea. Its processing involves – Plucking, natural drying, and briefly frying to remove the grass-covered smell. In contrast to other teas, the fermentation process is skipped for green tea. Thus, making it abundant in antioxidants. Studies recommend that green tea as well as White tea contains the least amount of caffeine among all other Chinese tea.

Green tea is known to have catechins, which are antioxidants that fight and may even prevent cell damage. The foremost common truth regarding green tea is that it helps to lose weight and helps to combat cancer as well. Apart from green tea, herbal tea can also be an alternative to green tea.

Types of Green Tea

What types of green tea are there in the market? Among all the varieties of green teas, which tea is the most popular? We will discuss the above queries in a further blog.

1. Gunpowder

Well, the most common and consumed green tea in Western countries is low-grade Gunpowder – the tea that is found in supermarkets. The main reason behind using this tea is that it’s cheap and has a good shelf life. It has a higher shelf life because of the way it is rolled up into little balls. Gunpowder tea leaves are shrunk, steamed, rolled, and then dried. Although the single leaves were earlier rolled by hand, today all but the most expensive grade gunpowder teas are rolled by machines.

Also Read: What is Syrup? Homemade Coffee Syrup Recipes.

2. Dragon Well Tea

Dragon Well tea, also known as Lung Ching, is the most popular green tea in China. This tea has a bright green color and is quite an expensive kind of tea. The tea carries vitamin C, amino acids, and, like most elegant Chinese green teas, has one of the highest concentrations of catechins amongst teas. It is considered the best kind of tea by many people. As the tea is expensive, it has less production. This tea is prone to duplication, thus make sure you are purchasing the original product.

3. Sencha

Sencha is a green tea, which is mostly preferred by green tea drinkers in Japan. It is a sweeter kind of green tea. Sencha tea is cheaper than Dragon well tea, thus is easily affordable. It is a kind of tea that you could drink every day, but none the worse for it. It is brewed by infusing the processed whole tea leaves in hot water. The absolute color of the sencha drink is a greenish golden color. Also, Sencha is more easily available than Chinese green teas tend to be. The slightly cheaper version of this tea is called Bancha. It is the opposite of matcha green tea. This is a very healthy drink to start your day with.

4. Matcha

Matcha is the sweetest kind of green tea and is mostly used in the Japanese tea ceremony. It is a very expensive and rich flavored tea. It tastes like a more luxurious dessert than the normal tea that you use. In Japan, this tea is also used as a flavoring agent for sweets and ice creams. The fact that matcha tea is distinct from other teas is its cultivation. Matcha tea is cultivated with shade before harvesting for 2-3 weeks. After harvesting, the plant’s leaf buds are plucked and the leaves are separated from the veins and stems. The powder has a light green color. 

So now, while purchasing green tea do not rely only on one type of green tea. There are different varieties of green tea, from which you can choose according to your taste and preferences.

Taste of Green Tea

Many people might think that it tastes like grass because it is made from fresh green leaves. But it’s not true. Well, it is hard to describe its taste, it may vary on the way of brewing this tea. If you steep more green leaves in boiling water for longer, then it will taste a little bitter. Although its aroma will let you know how it tastes you will not like it for the first time, but once you will get hold of it for a long time, then you will start to like its taste. Many people say that good quality green tea tastes like sweet, nutty, vegetal, floral, swampy, fruity, buttery, bitter, and oceanic.

As I mentioned earlier, green tea has many varieties. The taste will depend on which blends you are going to choose. For instance, Matcha green tea tastes sweet and grassy. If you are making plain green tea then, you can add lemon and sugar or honey to sweeten the taste. You can also infuse green tea with other leaves like mint, which is drunk in Morocco, which brings the bitterness of green tea down. If you like more floral flavour, then you should try jasmine green tea.

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Well, plain green tea has a pleasant taste, but you try these blends too to get your preferred taste. For spicy green tea, you can add cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon.

You can also brew plain green tea in cold water with ice cubes plus a little squirt of lemon. Drinking loose leaf green tea is a better choice because its natural flavor infused very well while brewing and loose-leaf tea is considered to be a higher quality of tea than teabags. If you are using teabags of a good brand then there is no problem. But if you are asking for my advice, you should drink loose leaf green tea because it contains more antioxidants than tea bags.