Green Teas
Green teas are known in the industry as ‘true’ teas as they are purely made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis. Unlike black teas they go through hardly any oxidisation during their manufacture. Whilst in the west we have tended to drink black teas (with milk and sugar!) it is in China, Japan and other Asian cultures that green tea has flourished. Although, nowadays, many more westerners are drinking green teas both because of their taste and because of their health benefits.
There are actually many varieties of green tea - some of which are highly prized. These include:
- Longjing Tea - this is probably the most famous Chinese green tea. The leaf here has a unique flat shape.
- Gunpowder Tea - this Chinese tea also has distinctive leaves which are rolled into pellets hence the gunpowder name.
- Bi Luo Chun Tea - this green tea from China is rolled into a shape like a conch shell. It has a fruit-like taste.
- Xin Yang Mao Jian Tea - this Chinese tea is also known as Green Tip. It is one of the ten great Chinese teas.
- Da Fang Tea - this tea is quite like Longjing tea but it has a nut like smell.
- Gyokuro - this Japanese green tea comes from shaded tea leaves that have a distinctive taste.
- Matcha - this Japanese green tea is often used in the country’s famous tea ceremonies.
- Hojicha - grown in Japan this tea is roasted and has a stronger taste than many other green teas.
The green teas we drink at home may be blends or they may have other ingredients (i.e. fruits and spices) added to them. Many green tea drinkers drink the tea because of the supposed health advantages. This tea is considered to have high antioxidant effects and may help with certain health issues such as cancer, high cholesterol, cardiovascular problems and deficiencies in the immune system.