A brief introduction to types of green tea.
As a consultant in our tea and herbal tea shop in Saint-Eustache, I often receive customers who wish to buy tea and have no knowledge in this area.
My first question is always the same, what type of tea are you looking for? Very often, people respond to me with green tea. When I ask them what kind of green tea, they are surprised to learn that there are several kinds of green tea. So I decided to make a brief description of how tea is produced and what the most popular varieties are that we find in our shop.
Type of Green Tea
First of all, it should be noted that green tea, like other types of tea, comes from the plant named Camellia Sinensis. This plant grows in countries such as Japan, China, India, and Vietnam. It is also found in certain regions such as Africa and the Comoros. The transformation process to obtain green or white tea, oolong tea, or black tea lies in its oxidation rate and how it will be processed.
Tea Oxidation Rate
Green tea, on the other hand, is not oxidized, knowing that if the harvested leaves are left to dry by themselves, they will oxidize and turn a darker color and eventually blacken. Tea producers have techniques to prevent the leaves from oxidizing so that they retain their green colors.
Chinese Tea
In China, a method is used that involves heating the leaves in large metal tanks that resemble a big wok; this step is done at a very high temperature and aims to stop enzymatic fermentation. The leaves are heated for a determined time and according to the desired type of tea.
Japanese Tea
In Japan, farmers mainly use the steam roasting method. This involves using hot steam on the leaves to stop oxidation after the leaves are harvested. Subsequently, there is a drying and sorting period before marketing the final product.
This method allows us to retain all the nutritional properties of the leaves and as a result of this process, we obtain beautiful green teas, rich in catechins and theanines. One can see the difference between Japanese green tea and other regions at a glance. Teas such as sencha, bancha, and gyokuro are made up of dark green and finely chopped leaves. The taste of Japanese green tea offers us bright flavors with a bold and marine taste.
Chinese green tea such as gun powder offers an herbal taste, while jasmine pearl tea is rolled into small pearls and has a floral taste. There are several varieties of green tea, one of the most renowned is Long Jing green tea whose leaves are flattened and the infusion offers us a light green liquor. This tea offers elegant floral and herbal notes with a rich character reminiscent of fresh hazelnuts.
We have a wide range of green teas in-store, pure and organic teas, flavored teas such as jasmine tea, raspberry green tea, lychee green tea. There are several flavors available. If one is looking for a tea richer in antioxidants, one would choose the sencha from Japan or the Long Jing green tea from China.
Infusion time for green tea.
Green tea is brewed at a temperature between 75 and 85 degrees Celsius, to obtain an infusion with little bitterness we will leave the leaves for only 3 to 4 minutes before removing them. For those who prefer a tea richer in antioxidants and stronger, we will extend the infusion time according to the desired taste. One should not hesitate to explore the infusion time and discover new flavors.
Senchado Technique
For Japanese green tea of the sencha or gyokuro type, there is also a brewing technique called senchado. This method involves making several small infusions with the same tea leaves. We start with a short session of 15 to 20 seconds and extend the time for the following ones. We use a small Japanese Kyushu teapot of about 300 ml for two people.
There are many formats for one or more people. The word Kyushu actually means teapot, in common usage Kyushu generally refers to a side-handled teapot, but its true name is yokode Kyushu.
There is so much to say about green tea and its varieties as well as the harvesting methods. We will elaborate further in another article.
Unique tea house
Our shop specializes in selling loose leaf teas and organic herbal teas, we are the only shop on the north shore of Laval and the Laurentians that stands out for our wide selection of quality products. For people in the northern crown region, we are the go-to place for organic tea and medicinal herbs. So, if you are passing through our area, don't hesitate to visit us. We look forward to seeing you in-store.
