20% of all tea drinkers consume green Tea and it might kind of a surprise when you get to know that even green tea is received from the same plant as the white and the black tea.
This a less oxidized version of tea and thus has a higher content of antioxidants and polyphenols.
Types of Green Tea
Green tea is a native of India and China. It has relatively gained its popularity pretty recently.
It is now a favorite among all health enthusiasts due to its highly beneficial nature. It is also often believed that the green tea extracts had been a part of Indian and Chinese medicine since ancient times.
Green Tea comes in various varieties, Some of them have been mentioned below:
• Gyokuro
Uniquely the Gyokuro tea leaves are covered with some cloth 20 days before being plucked to limit the light for the plant which in turn suppresses the formation of catechins from amino acids. This process provides this tea its rich flavor with much less astringency.
• Kabusecha
Just like Gyokuro, even the Kabusecha tea leaves are covered for some time before being plucked. But, the duration for which these leaves are covered is only around a week before being plucked. This does get a flavor which bolder than Gyokuro and yet light and rich in its way
• Sencha
Sencha Green tea is one of the most widely known varieties of green tea and has leaves which are steamed and rolled up to produce crude tea.
• Fukamunshi Sencha
The Fukamunshi Sencha is that variety of green tea which is steamed twice as long as the Sencha Green tea. One of the most astounding facts about this variety is that even if some of its contents which do not even dissolve in water get absorbed by our body.
• Tencha
This type of green tea is generally used in the preparation of Matcha green tea. The leaves of Tencha are also covered before being plucked, but these leaves are not rolled while drying. Then the leave veins and stalks are removed leaving behind the flecks.
• Matcha
Matcha green tea is that variety of Tencha green tea which is stone ground immediately before being shipped and thus can also be considered as a variant of Tencha and is relatively a younger version of Green Tea.
• Genmaicha
The Japanese word for brown rice without the removal of the bran is Genmaicha. The steamed and soaked brown rice is roasted and added to any green tea in equal parts. As the content of tea has been reduced to almost 50% thus, it has a much less caffeine content making it suitable for consumption by people of all ages.
• Nibancha and Sanbancha
When the subsequent tea leaves are picked after Shincha, then they are called Nibancha and sanbancha respectively.
• Shincha
The first picking of the season delivers this premium green tea variant. During the extreme conditions the shoots of the tea plant stores the healthy nutrients and thus, the first picking has a bunch of exotic nutrients which have been stored all through the season. It has a sweet bodied feel along with the aroma of fresh leaves.
• Dragon Well Green Tea
The dragon well green tea is most popular green tea of Chinese origin in the U.S.A and can be very expensive at times. It has a sweet and mild flavor with a hint of chestnut like kick in it.
• Hojicha
When any green tea is roasted and then sold commercially, it is called Hojicha. Hojicha has a unique aroma of roasted tea. Roasting sublimes the caffeine making it less bitter than other green teas.
• Kukicha
It is a steamed tea from Japan which is prepared from the twigs of the tea plant. It has a sweet vegetal flavor to it with low caffeine naturally.
• Bi Lio Chun Green Tea
It is also called the snail spring green tea and is very popular in China. It is quite famous among tea lovers due to its smooth vegetal and sweet taste.
• Funmatsucha
Very similar to Matcha but the Ttencha leaves used are not covered thus letting the photosynthesis proceed normally giving this tea a bitter and more astringent flavor to it.
• Konacha
The small leaves which are filtered during the processing of Gyokuro or Sencha are further frisked to form Konacha and thus, this tea is an inexpensive green tea.
• Gunpowder Green Tea
This is the only green tea which comes in the forms of pellets like a bud which open in hot water releasing a slightly smokey flavor.
• Longjing
This tea was called the imperial tea of the Qing Dynasty. The Longjing tea is usually tender, whole and uniform and yields a delectable mildly sweet flavor when consumed.
• Pi Lo Chun
This tea usually grows in the neighborhood of plum, apricot and peach trees. Thus, during its growth, it picks up the aroma and has a similar fragrance to it. Further, this tea has a snail-like appearance.
• Hou Khui
Also famous by the name of monkey tea. This tea usually grows among neighboring orchids. It absorbs the orchid aroma so well that the tea has a flavor of orchid which can be felt in every sip and aroma.
• Snowy Mountains of Jian
Although, this is a green tea but has a robust flavor similar to black tea as it is processed differently in comparison to all other green tea varieties.
• Tia Mu Qing Ding
The leaves of this tea are delicately fine and produce a light sweet taste.
• Hyson Lucky Dragon
It is made of greenish yellow tea leaves. This tea has a more full-bodied taste in comparison to the other green tea varieties.
• Kai Hua Long Ding
This green tea is made of unique leaves which are thick that is stalky and very short in size.
• Xin Yang Mao Jian
This is a premium quality green tea which grows in the Henan Province of China. It is usually known for the fine leaves used in it.
Some other blends of green tea are also available, like:
- Mint green tea
- Jasmine Green tea
- Chamomile Green tea
- Himalayan Green tea
- Honey Lemon Green tea
Conclusion
The green tea is a healthy alternative to our daily brew. A mug of green tea is brimming with health and refreshing flavor which makes it all the more a substitute which should be used more often.
Let’s conclude on a note that this beneficial drink has the best supply of antioxidants that not only prevent us from several chronic diseases, boost our immunity but, also help us maintain a healthy and shinning skin for a long time.