Green tea is often heralded as a “super drink.” We’ve all heard the long list of health benefits that can come from regularly drinking a green tea.
Nutritionists are always advising us to swap out our morning cup of coffee for a lovely cup of the green brew. And when it comes to selecting a green tea, we are spoiled for choice.
There are so many different varieties of green tea! Should you opt for sencha, a popular, savory green tea variety, or the more aromatic gyokuro?
Are you trying to drink less coffee but still want a milky latte first thing in the morning? If so, you might choose to buy a matcha power.
If you are someone who prefers slightly sweeter teas, you might opt for a green tea infusion, such as a lemon ginger longjing tea or a strawberry sencha.
There is even decaf green tea for those who try to stay away from caffeine.
Here is a comprehensive guide to choosing the green tea that is right for you!
How to choose green tea?
Consider what flavor profile you want and choose a tea variety suited to your preferences. For maximum health benefits, choose a loose-leaf tea with a high antioxidant content. Make sure the tea is still fresh and is not about to expire. You should also check for any unwanted additives before purchasing tea.
How to choose green tea for your taste buds
There is a large selection of green tea varieties. Different tea drinkers have different flavor preferences, and so it is important that you try out the various kinds of green tea in order to decide what is most suited to your palette.
Here is a brief run-through of the best-known kinds of green tea.
Sencha is a steamed Japanese green tea. The steaming process stops oxidation and gives the tea’s sweet notes of melon and grass a savory edge.
Standard, or asamushi, sencha is lightly steamed and has a mild, sweet aroma.
Fukamushi sencha is steamed for twice as long as asamushi sencha and has a bolder, more savory flavor.
Another well-known Japanese green tea variety is the high-grade gyokuro.
Gyokura bushes are covered for up to six weeks before the tea leaves are harvested.
Because the plants are not getting as much light as they were before, they are forced to produce more chlorophyl in order to continue to perform photosynthesis.
By depriving the gyokuro bushes of light, tea growers are able to bring out a unique sweetness in their leaves. Gyokuro is often said to have notes of seaweed.
Genmaicha is another Japanese green tea. It is a lower quality sencha tea that has been supplemented with toasted sorghum or rice.
Genmaicha is commonly drunk by the everyman in Japan, and has a robust, smoky flavor.
To round off our list of Japanese greens is the world-famous matcha, which is made by de-stemming and de-veining green tea leaves and grinding them to a fine powder.
There are also a number of excellent Chinese green teas.
The best-known (and most expensive) variety is longjing, which is hand-roasted in woks and has notes of chestnut and asparagus.
Bilochun is another Chinese green tea. Bilochun is known for being fruity and fragrant.
If you are someone who likes a bit of extra flavor, you might also opt for a green tea infusion.
An infusion is a base tea mixed with a flower, leaf, or other organic product that adds flavor.
Green tea leaves infused with lemon juice make a delicious lemon green tea. Other popular infusions include jasmine and ginger green teas.
When choosing a green tea infusion, select a flavor blend that sounds appetizing to you.
How to choose green tea for the maximum health benefits
Green tea is very good for you.
It contains healthy bioactive compounds, including polyphenols known as flavonoids.
It contains epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a natural antioxidant that suppresses the formation of free radicals and thereby protects cells from damage.
Studies have also shown that green tea may have metabolism-boosting properties and can contribute to weight loss.
Observational studies have also found that people who regularly drink green tea are less likely to develop breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer.
However, in order for green tea to provide the maximum benefits possible, it needs to be a good quality tea.
Lower quality brands of green tea sometimes contain significant amounts of fluoride. If the tea leaves are too old, they will also be less potent.
Here are the most important things to look out for when it comes to choosing a green tea with the maximum health benefits.
First, consider the antioxidant content of your tea. The amount of the antioxidant EGCG in green tea varies between brands.
A recent study conducted by Consumerlabs.com found that the brands with the most EGCG content in their green teas included Teavana, Lipton, and Harney & Sons.
The second thing to keep in mind is that you will get more out of loose-leaf tea than you will from tea in bags.
Loose-leaf tea is almost always higher quality than the tea found in tea bags because it stays fresh for longer.
Loose-leaf green tea has consistently been found to have more EGCG content than green tea bought in bags.
Loose-leaf tea tends to be stored in better conditions. It also has a richer flavor than the tea in tea bags.
A third thing to consider when choosing a green tea is the expiration date of your tea.
Green tea does not stay fresh forever, and the more recently it has been picked and dried, the higher its antioxidant content will be.
If you buy tea that is about to expire, chances are it will deliver fewer of green tea’s famed benefits than a tea with an expiration date that is months away.
This is also a good thing to keep in mind when looking for a tea bag at a friend’s house. Has that box of green tea been sitting in her cupboard for years? If so, the tea is no longer fresh.
Green tea has a shelf life of about half a year.
A final thing to look for when picking a green tea is unwanted added sugar and other ingredients.
Unwanted additives are most commonly found in matcha latte blends or iced green tea powders.
Matcha powders often contain other ingredients to reduce their cost.
If you want the maximum health benefits that come from drinking pure matcha, check the ingredients list of your matcha powder before purchasing it. Aim to find a matcha tea that is 100 percent matcha powder.