Let’s Know Green Tea

It might come as a surprise to you that both green tea and black tea originate from the same exact plant species – Camellia sinensis. It’s mainly how the tea leaves are processed that defines how green tea becomes “green” and black tea becomes “black”.

There are two main varieties of the Camellia sinensis tea plant: Camella Sinensis Sinensis and Camella Sinensis Assamica.

Processing

The tea leaves are harvested from the Camellia sinensis plant and are then quickly heated (by pan firing or steaming) and dried to prevent too much oxidation that would turn the green leaves brown and alter their fresh-picked flavour.

A brewed green tea is typically green, yellow, or light brown in colour, and its flavour profile can range from grass-like, toasted, vegetal & sweet. Most green tea should be quite light in colour and only mildly astringent.

Steaming/Roasting → Cooling → 1st Rolling → 1st Drying (110°C/70°C) → Final Rolling → Final Drying (120°C/80°C)

Origin

All green tea originates from the same plant species. However, there are different types of green tea grown and produced all over the world today, including China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Hawaii, and South Carolina.

Green tea, however, is thought to have originated in China. Supposedly even today the word “tea” in China refers only to green tea, not to the general category of tea. China’s Yunnan province is regarded as the original home of the Camellia sinensis plant species. In fact, 260 of the world’s 380+ varieties of tea can be found there.

One popular legend suggests that Shennong, Emperor of China and supposed inventor of Chinese medicine, discovered tea as a beverage around 2737 BC when fresh tea leaves from a nearby tea tree fell into his cup of just-boiled water.

Others credit various Buddhists in 500 BC and subsequent centuries for the discovery of tea. They would travel between India and China spreading their religion, culture, and ritual of tea. The monks’ habit of tea drinking for refreshment, to aid meditation and as a substitute for alcohol developed into a spiritual and social practice that spread across China.

Green tea is claimed to have been popularized in Japan around 1190 when a Zen priest studying in China’s great Buddhist monasteries and temples returned to Japan with tea seeds and bushes. Eisai, the young priest, used his experience of growing and drinking tea in China to popularize the way of tea as a meditation ritual within his own community of Buddhist monks, eventually spreading the custom of tea drinking all over Japan.

Types of Green Tea

The world’s most popular, widely consumed types of green tea come from the places where green tea originated: China and Japan. Green teas from China and Japan have different flavour profiles based on where and how they are grown, but most specifically how they are processed: pan-fired in China and steamed in Japan.

Chinese Green Teas

The Chinese style of green tea is marked by pan firing, where tea leaves are heated in a basket, pan or mechanized rotating drum to stop the oxidation process.

Some popular Chinese green teas include:

Dragonwell: A smooth, flat, sword-shaped appearance and pan-fired toasty taste give this tea its characteristic look and flavour.

Gunpowder: Fired in a perforated metal tumbler that tosses the leaves around in a figure-eight pattern; Gunpowder tea takes its name from the pellet-like shape of the finished leaf.

Japanese Green Teas

The Japanese style of green tea is marked by steaming, where tea leaves are treated briefly with steam heat within hours of plucking to halt the oxidation process as well as bring out the rich green colour of both the tea leaves and the final brewed tea.

Some popular Japanese green teas include:

Sencha: It makes up more than 80 % of the tea produced in Japan and is the most popular tea drunk in households and restaurants nationwide. It is made from tea leaves that are steamed then typically rolled into long, skinny strands.

Hojicha: Sencha is roasted over high heat to produce Hojicha, a tea with a roasted, nutty flavour. The application of high heat also helps lower tea’s caffeine content.

Genmaicha: A blend of Sencha and roasted and popped rice, Genmaicha is a toasty tasting delicacy that is a popular tea to be served with food.

Gyokoro: The tea leaves are shaded during the last few weeks before plucking to intensify the colour and flavour. During processing, it is rolled into its characteristic thin needle-like shape. Gyokoro is Japan’s most treasured tea.

Matcha: Shade-grown like Gyokoro, the tea leaves that make Matcha is ground into a powder instead of shaped and rolled.

Taste

Green tea can hail from different parts of the world. So, how it tastes, depends on many factors, including where it was grown and how it was processed. However, there are some common traits used to describe the overall flavour profile of the green teas, including vegetal, grassy, earthy, sweet, buttery, nutty, toasty, seaweed-like, lush, green, and herbaceous.

Few tips to prepare green tea:

• Use fresh, pure, cold filtered water.
• Don’t scorch your tea! If the water is too hot, tea will release more bitterness and astringency.
• Allow boiling water to rest before pouring it over green tea leaves.
• It depends on the tea but using about 2 grams of loose-leaf tea per 30 ml of water is a safe bet. If your tea package has specific recommendations for steeping, use those.

Health Benefits

This is perhaps the most important reason why green teas are getting popular. It is touted to be one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.

Green tea is loaded with antioxidants that have many health benefits, which include:

• Improved brain function
• Fat loss
• Protecting against cancer
• Lowering the risk of heart disease.
• There may be even more potential health benefits.

Green tea is a loaded topic, and we could write about it for days. We’ve focused on a few key points, and we hope this has been helpful to you. Visit our website and check out our blogs any time to read about other interesting tea facts.