The Ultimate Guide to Green Tea
Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water and is something that I personally drink daily and absolutely love. Tea is deeply rooted in my culture and both chai and green tea are consumed daily in my family. On the other hand, many of my friends don't drink tea regularly in Canada and some have the perception that they don't enjoy the flavor. This inspired me to expand my knowledge on tea and make this post, giving a background on tea and the different types of tea for those who wish to become fellow tea drinkers! This post will act as a part 1 to probably a 3 part series of posts on this topic and this first post will be the ultimate guide to green tea!
What is Green Tea?
There are many types of tea with the difference between each being the method of processing. The main tea types are:
White Tea
Green Tea
Yellow Tea
Oolong Tea
Red / Black Tea
Dark / Fermented Tea
Green tea processing involves three main steps: withering, fixing and drying. Withering is the wilting of the picked tea leaves which occurs naturally but is controlled by tea producers to control for the humidity, air flow, and temperature to achieve a desired loss of moisture and aroma. Fixing is the heating of tea leaves to kill the enzymes involved in oxidation, which is the process by which the leaves undergo browning and a changing of aroma/flavor. Since green tea doesn't undergo oxidation the leaves are fixed before any noticeable oxidation occurs. This fixing is generally done one of two ways, through heating on a pan, called pan-firing, or through steaming with pan-firing being more common. Finally, the leaves are fully dried to remove remaining moisture so that they can be shelf stable.
Types of Green Tea
I have to start of with green tea because this is probably my favorite type of tea and I can drink seemingly endless amounts of it. Green tea is made using leaf buds, typically picked during springtime, that have not been oxidized. This means that it typically has the "freshest" flavor and the shortest shelf life of the common types of teas at ~6-8 months. Green tea is often associated with China and Japan because it is deeply rooted in the cultures of these countries and the most famous green tea varieties in the world originate there. Japan is home to many green tea varieties including three famous varieties; matcha, sencha and gyokuro.
Matcha is a powdered green tea that has become famous globally. During the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) powdered tea was very common in China and was introduced to Japan during this period. In Japan this powdered tea was innovated and became an essential part of tea culture, giving rise to matcha as we know it today. What makes matcha different from other teas and gives it the signature strength, flavor and color that it is known for is the distinct processing method. Weeks before harvest (typically 20-30 days), the tea bushes are shaded to increase chlorophyll production after which the leaves, or tencha, are steamed, dried, and milled into a very fine powder. There are also different grades of matcha, namely, koicha, usucha and confectioner's grade. While koicha is typically reserved for tea ceremonies, usucha is also ceremony grade but can be purchased and consumed at home while confectioner's grade is the lowest quality and is typically used for desserts.
Sencha is the most commonly produced tea in Japan (accounting for 80% of production) and is also famous globally for its delicate flavor. While it can be consumed on its own, it is also used to make genmaicha, which is a combination of sencha and puffed brown rice. Historically, the addition of rice made the tea more affordable to brew but today the flavor of genmaicha is appreciated in its own right and is still commonly consumed. Sencha, like matcha, is also steamed as is typical with Japanese green teas in order to create a more deep and complex flavor. The most expensive / high quality sencha is considered to be the sencha that is harvested earliest during the harvesting season, having a more delicate and sweet flavor, while over the course the season the flavor becomes stronger and lower in quality.
Gyokuro, like matcha, is also shaded for weeks prior to harvesting. This makes for what is regarded as the most prized green tea in Japan that unlike matcha is not milled into a powder. This tea is supposedly very difficult to grow and brew properly but when it is made properly it produces a rich and sweet flavor. There are a couple of regions in Japan that produce this tea but the most famous is Uji which is a city near Kyoto. Kabuse cha is similarly shaded but for a shorter period of time and less stringently, thus being a sort of "shaded sencha" with a mix of characteristics between sencha and gyokuro.
While there are some very famous Japanese teas today, the country most famous for tea and the largest producer of tea globally is China. Not only does China produce >30% of the world's tea but 70% of this production is green tea so one can imagine that it is hugely popular in China! In regards to differences in production compared to Japanese green tea, many Chinese green teas are pan-fired / pan-roasted and are generally hand picked for higher quality varieties.
One of the most famous green teas from China is long jing, which is grown in the coastal Zhejiang province of China. While this tea is very common for daily consumption and affordable at lower qualities, the higher quality long jing tea can be expensive. This quality ranges from superior to 1 through 5 and the highest quality long jing tea is generally picked prior to the Qingming Festival in early April because afterwards temperatures increase which results in increased growth and a loss of desired flavor. The flavor of this tea is vegetal with toasty and yeasty notes. You also may hear this tea be referred to as dragon well tea because long jing translates to dragon well!
A couple of other famous Chinese green tea varieties are anji bai cha, tai ping hou kui and xin yang mao jian. Anji bai cha translates to "Anji white tea" due to the white appearance of the tea leaves and resulting light color of the tea. This tea apparently has a refreshing, sweet and fruity flavor. Tai ping hou kui and xin yang mao jian are two more of the teas that are often listed among the ten famous Chinese teas. I would love to try all of these famous Chinese teas someday!
While pan-fired green tea is most common in China and most of the world and steamed green tea is most common in Japan, South Korea produces both! Jeung-cha is Korean steamed green tea and bu-cha is Korean pan-fired green tea, with pan-fired being more common than steamed. Additionally, similar to Japanese genmaicha, a combination of Korean steamed green tea and roasted brown rice, called hyeonmi-nokcha, is commonly consumed.
I have to also mention of course the green tea that I drink regularly and that is sheen chai (or kahwa in Urdu). In my culture (Pashtun culture) green tea is traditionally made with cardamom which I think adds such an amazing flavor to the tea and I highly recommend for everyone to try it! This is typically drank after meals and is quite light in flavor/color compared to other green tea I have had. Also, the kettle used for green tea is usually exclusively used for green tea and the same kettle in which the tea is prepared is used to serve the tea. If you want to try it for yourself my favorite brand is the Nazo brand green tea for which I cannot find a link on Amazon but you can potentially find it at your local South Asian or Middle Eastern grocery store.
Preparing Green Tea
Every culture prepares tea differently but there are some general guidelines that you can follow for each tea type to try and produce the most desirable tea possible. The first variable to consider is the tea to water ratio. The general guideline for tea seems to be 1 teaspoon / 2 grams per cup, with a cup being 180mL. Assuming you aren't measuring the weight of the tea, as most people don't, I would start with a teaspoon per cup and adjust from there because obviously it depends on how densely packed your tea is, the quality of the tea, etc.
The next factor is the temperature at which you steep your tea. I personally usually steep my tea in essentially boiling water but according to tea experts green tea should actually be steeped at the lowest temperature compared to other tea types. For steamed green teas (Japanese) the optimal steeping temperature is 60-70 degrees Celsius while for pan-fired green teas (Chinese) the optimal steeping temperature is 70-80 degrees Celsius. I am excited to experiment with these steeping temperatures to see what difference in flavor they produce!
Finally, the last factor is steeping time. This can largely vary in a range from 30 seconds to 4 minutes. It is best to just start with a shorter steeping time, like 1 minute, and then increase by 30 seconds if you find that the tea is too weak. These guidelines are for loose leaf tea which is generally highly recommended to tea bags / dust due to much higher quality and in turn better flavor! Additionally, it is though that you can re-steep green tea up 3 or 4 times while still achieving a good flavor. The flavor will also change with each subsequent steep so you may even find that you enjoy a green tea more after a later steep compared to the first!
A notable exception to the above guidelines is matcha which is obviously prepared differently because it is powdered. For matcha you want to use water at 75 degrees Celsius along with 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of matcha powder. Initially, add a small amount of water to the matcha and whisk to to form a paste. After a paste forms add another 1/2 - 2/3 cup of water to the cup and whisk until the matcha is smooth and frothy after which it is ready for drinking!
The Ultimate Guide to Green Tea
That is all for this post! I am so excited to keep learning more about tea and continue this series! For this post I got most of my information from three really amazing books that I came across. The first is, "The Tea Book" by Linda Gaylard, which I think is a really great book for an overview on tea and has a lot of nice graphics! The other two are, "Tea: A User's Guide" by Tony Gebely and "The Story of Tea" by Mary Lou Heiss. These two books are a lot heavier on the information but are great references for more in depth information and history on tea! I highly recommend checking out any of these books to keep learning more about tea!
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