So you have heard the hype around green tea and want to know where is comes from?
You have seen the different types and have no idea which one it is you want to try?
Well with this post we want to try and make things a little easier by telling you a little bit about green tea, its origins and the main types that are available.
What are the main types of green tea?
Green tea for the most part comes from China, Japan & India. These are the big 3 loose green tea suppliers.
Other countries that also grow and export green tea are Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
China is the home of green tea which can be dated back to as far as 2737BC and was discovered accidentally when the ancient emperor fell asleep under a tree with a cup of boiling water at his side.
Upon waking up he found the green water at his side and decided to try it. He was pleasantly surprised by the flavour and aroma of the drink. And so green tea was born.
Today green tea is an integral part of the Chinese culture and around 50% of all green tea is consumed in China so it should be no surprise that China is where some of the most popular green teas come from.
Below are the most common types of green tea.
Sencha
78% of the green tea that is consumed in Japan is Sencha, it could be described as an everyday green tea, the majority of the green tea consumed across the globe is sencha tea.
The leaves are steamed to lock in the oxidants and flavour, rolled, and dried so they are ready for consumption.
Matcha
This is a green tea that is ground up into fine dust so that it can be added to water or milk to create a green drink that releases as many nutrients as possible. Because you are ingesting the leaf rather than just steeping the leaves in the water, you get more of the nutrients, which has a more improved effect on your health.
Gunpowder
This is where the leaves are shaped into small round pellets. Once steeped in water the pellets unfurl and expand giving a grassy and earthy flavour.
The source of the name gunpowder is not known but one theory is that an English clerk named it gunpowder as he believed that it resembled the lead shot that was used at the time for muskets.
Jasmine
Jasmine green tea is a sweet, grassy and floral tea excellent in the morning.
The process for jasmine tea is not only time consuming but also incredibly intricate, but so, so worth it.
Jasmine flowers bloom at night and so need to be picked at night, they are then placed on the leaves to allow the leaves to take on the scent and flavour of the flowers. This results in a wonderfully flavoured green tea.
On a side note, this can also be done with white tea.
Our Favourite
If we had to pick just one of the above it would have to be our Jasmine tea, we just cannot get enough of it. You get all the benefits of green tea with the added bonus of the floral sweet flavour the Jasmin blooms have provided.
It honestly is worth trying, if you want to give it a go you can find it here and because we think everyone should try Jasmine tea at least once we are giving everyone 15% off their next order of Jasmine Tea with code JASMINE