515472 Sat May 03 09:34:01 -0700 2008 22 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 3653015 I am always in a quandry as to what brand or type of green tea to choose. Prices vary considerably and I am wondering if there is a difference between brands as to quality, taste, nutritional value etc. And what about instant green tea? Any enlightenment would be very appreciated. Sat May 03 09:34:02 -0700 2008 162997 lattelover 1 3653184 I drink green tea every day and am happy with teabags. I've tried loose green teas and they are fine, but a little strong for my taste. I find some brands better than others, but really, it's a matter of sampling to see what you like best. I drink Celestial Seasonsings decaffeinated mandarin orange green tea - very mild - and also Salada green tea with antioxidants, red and purple varieties. The latter are stronger in taste and color. I prefer these brands to Bigelow and Stash (I've only seen Stash in restaurants). As for nutritional value, I'm not sure if any of the teabag green teas have much to offer in the way of nutrition, except for antioxidants. I don't usually check out nutritional values on the backs of packages, but if this is of importance, you may wish to compare several brands' labels. I would imagine organic green teas are more pricey. Whether or not that ensures a better quality product, I really can't say. Taste wise, I have found some organic teas to be quite good, others, not as good. Again, I think you need to experiment to find what is most pleasing to you. Perhaps someone else on the board is more knowlegeable than I about green tea and can give you better info. If you're a coffee lover, you may prefer something stronger than Celestial Seasonings such as Salada's green teas with antioxidants. They're a little funky, but I like them! Sat May 03 10:48:34 -0700 2008 3653015 158881 addicted2cake 1 3653216 This is so much a matter of taste. Since you mention nutritional value, are you mostly interested in green tea for the antioxidants? In that case, you're probably better off going with minimally processed loose tea. Sat May 03 11:04:02 -0700 2008 3653015 138816 jlafler 2 3653252 You might want to check out the offerings at your local asian foods store or SpecialTeas.com. Green teas vary treeeeeee-mendously. I find the reviews and explanations at SpecialTeas.com very useful, and I like ordering their samples (usually $1.00 each sample, and there are many pots of tea in one sample). It's fun to try new things and try and figure out my taste in green teas. Lately, I tried a wonderful genmaicha with made with matcha, in silk pyramid teabags, and it makes the greatest super quick cup of tea at work. And I got it dirt cheap at an asian foods store. Sat May 03 11:16:06 -0700 2008 3653216 64882 Vetter 3 3653298 I buy mine at a local Asian store; not crazy about the flavor of green tea but I do drink it for the health benefits. Someone suggested I try Sencha green tea so I tried a brand called Takaokaya (Japanese brand) that I found at the Asian store and I really like it. Sat May 03 11:44:29 -0700 2008 3653252 11983 Val 1 3653661 http://www.teanobi.com/products/powder.html green tea/matcha primer, I've been reading up! Sat May 03 14:46:23 -0700 2008 3653015 36312 HillJ 1 3655836 I didn't care much for green tea made from leaves, but Stash Green Chai tea bags have a more exotic taste and are not bad. At a local Thai restaurant last month, they served Stash Green Tea bags (not chai) so they too seem to favor their flavor. Sun May 04 15:44:43 -0700 2008 3653015 11791 DonShirer 1 3656156 the quality of loose tea is so much better than the bags... if it tastes too strong, use less tea, steep for less time.. by all means for green tea try to use water at about 180-190 degrees not boiling. steep 2 or 3 minutes, not 5 i get most of my teas from adagio.com Sun May 04 18:04:35 -0700 2008 3653015 135229 thew 1 3660048 The difference between a cup of green tea made from a bag vs. a good quality loose leaf tea can be night and day. I would liken it to the difference between a instant coffee and freshly roasted whole bean coffee or a gallon jug of wine and the finest wine you've ever tasted. Green tea can be dirty, grassy, and taste like mold or it can be bright, floral and complex. Truth is for the price of tea bags you could be drinking the good stuff if your willing to take 10 seconds to measure it out and you're careful to let the water temperature drop to the appropriate temp. Try Silk Road Teas (www.silkroadteas.com) or Rishi Tea (www.rishi-tea.com) for some of the finest. Both companies sell great quality teas and you don't need to spend a fortune. Compare by weight the price of box of teabags vs some of their loose leaf teas and they won't seem as expensive. Both companies describe the teas so pick something that sounds good to you. It doesn't have to be the most expensive. Keep in mind that the finest teas in the world need to be hand-picked to insure their quality. I'm pretty certain you can't find a teabag using hand-picked, hand-processed leaves. It will cost more but you get what you pay for. Mon May 05 20:24:33 -0700 2008 3653015 62405 cheapertrick 2 3660223 Cheapertrick is right - quality, measurement and water temperature. And please don't steep it for too long - you'll find that even a minute can be enough, depending on what type and how much green tea you're using... You'll probably need to experiment a little to find the right balance for yourself... Mon May 05 21:57:38 -0700 2008 3660048 64003 bulavinaka 3 3661208 I am humbled and awed by all your answers and see I have a lot of exploring to do! Thanks to all. Tue May 06 09:03:59 -0700 2008 3660223 162997 lattelover 1 3661556 I prefer Yamamotoyama's tea bags @ work. They're one of Japan's oldest tea companies and makes a good reliable tea (green, among others). I've tried the brand that Costco carries (Itoen), but I found that to be inferior to Yamamotoyama. Many major grocery stores (at least in Southern California) carry Yamamotoyama now, but if your area doesn't carry it, you can always check Amazon (I usually by the 16/box). Tue May 06 10:27:04 -0700 2008 3653015 12873 OCAnn 2 3662492 i keep little empty teabags at home and put my own loose tea in them if i need to take tea out of the house they make great spice sacks when cooking too Tue May 06 13:54:19 -0700 2008 3661556 135229 thew 1 3662935 Green teas vary tremendously, depending on where they are grown, when they are picked, how they are picked, processed, the amount of leaves vs stems etc... I know this sounds complicated, but it's also a great opportunity to explore. Perhaps as a start, teabags would be good -- I've always been happily surprised by those from Mighty Leaf, even if they're not the absolute best of their kind. Looks like there are many other recs here as well. Typically green teas are brewed at lower temperatures, around 50-60°C (barely touchable). Then move on to loose teas. Try some at tea houses first to see what suits your tastes as well as how much effort/money you're willing to spend. Some from China including the justly famous Dragonwell (those from westlake and lion's peak are the most renowned), green snail spring/bi4 luo2 chun1 (these leaves are curled like little snails), certain varieties of handrolled jasmine teas. A few varieties from Japan include the grassy/nutty karigane (a blend of leaves and stems), other types of kukicha have more stems than leaves that have al lighter flavour, genmaicha (blended with roasted rice for a toasty flavour), sencha (all leaves, a richer flavour) and of course the incredible gyokuro ("Jade dew" that's luxuriant and rich, almost savoury). Gyokuro leaves, when finely ground, become matcha, a powdered tea that is whisked during the brewing process. I'm just scratching the surface here, as there are lots of green teas that I've yet to taste myself, but hopefully this can be a start. Tue May 06 16:13:36 -0700 2008 3653015 10076 limster 2 3663142 Thank you! Tue May 06 17:31:54 -0700 2008 3662935 162997 lattelover 2 3666943 Two of my favorites: Genmaicha, which I think is Sencha with toasted rice added. Delightful. White Tea, which is the very tip-tops of the tea plant picked by hand when the shoot is very young. Amazing. I do recommend getting green tea in loose form, and Asian groceries often have some of the best teas. Most of the really beautiful teas are loose, not bagged. And don't brew it too long, as all tea gets bitter if brewed too long. Wed May 07 19:58:17 -0700 2008 3662935 35409 uptown jimmy 1 3663815 I'm wondering how I go about picking a quality Jasmine tea....which as I understand it is a type of Green Tea, that's just darker, and more floral....I think? The prices vary to a ridiculous degree, and I've noticed the cheaper loose stuff I get from Chinatown has some strange dried things in there. Tue May 06 23:14:55 -0700 2008 3653015 145096 sugartoof 2 3663837 Jasmine tea is green tea that has been scented with jasmine flowers, so the strange dried things in your tea might be bits of jasmine flowers. I think the higher-quality tea would not have any actual jasmine flowers in with the tea leaves -- as I understand it, they're not actually mixed in during the scenting process. I love jasmine tea.... Tue May 06 23:51:55 -0700 2008 3663815 138816 jlafler 2 3664577 I enjoy jasmine tea too...and like the Yamamotoyama brand tea bags. Wed May 07 08:34:21 -0700 2008 3663815 12873 OCAnn 2 3666602 Long ago in China tea was considered a medicinal beverage. Jasmine flowers were added to enhance its medicinal properties as well as the flavor. Jasmine is still a favored tea flavoring today. Other traditional flowers commonly used for scenting tea include rose, orchid, lotus, osthmanthus, and chrysanthemum. Quality of jasmine teas is based on several factors. Good quality jasmine green teas are picked in the spring and scented in the late summer when the fresh flowers bloom. The fresh blossoms are layered in the tea and removed so that the tea can dry. Leaving them in will cause the tea to decay. This process is repeated several times. The more times the tea is scented the higher the quality. Top grades are often scented 9 or 10 individual times. Lower grades 3 or 4. Typically dried blossoms are added later to assure the buyer that the tea was actually scented using jasmine and they add decoration. Often times a tea sold as a jasmine tea is flavored with a flavoring derived from another cheaper flower that is similar to jasmine in scent and flavor. The dried blossoms are added to create the illusion of real jasmine tea hence jlafer's comments about quality with dried flowers. In actuality both fake and real jasmine teas often have dried flowers and this is not an indication of quality. In fact the best jasmine teas I've ever had have always had the dried flowers added. The key to buying real jasmine teas is to trust your source or learn the difference in flavor between real jasmine tea and flavored jasmine tea. Wed May 07 17:49:55 -0700 2008 3663815 62405 cheapertrick 3 3708370 Nice post, cheapertrick. Real jasmine teas (without the flavoring added in) is significantly more expensive than the cheaper ones you see. I've seen them sell huge amounts of jasmine tea for like $3-4. Once, one of my girlfriends brought me some dried jasmine flowers from her garden and we steeped them into hot water. While it was technically not a "tea" (no camellia sinensis), it was really good and aromatic. Wed May 21 09:47:06 -0700 2008 3666602 10763 Miss Needle 1 3666904 Upton tea is a good site to visit, not only to see the varieties of tea and get good prices, but also to look at some of the history of tea and other informational pieces that include how to brew the various teas and how they're picked and processed. Click on the Information tab from the main menu and you will see lots of well written articles. http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/home.asp Wed May 07 19:36:14 -0700 2008 3653015 10312 applehome 1 3707943 Late response, but I agree that Yamamotoyama sencha green tea tastes like the green tea I drank in Japan. I get it at the local H Mart in Baltimore/Catonsville. It's also at Wegman's in Hunt Valley. Bigelow green tea tastes like a slightly weaker version of regular tea to me. It lacks the earthy/vegetable aroma of Japanese sencha. Wed May 21 07:42:27 -0700 2008 3653015 194080 Songquo