There are a whole slew of green teas to explore out there! The variety is quite amazing. In general, green teas tend to be a bit more on the vegetal side of the flavor spectrum. However, not always the case. Green teas vary greatly from region to region, due to soil content, climate, altitude, and processing methods. The resulting cup can range from spinach green, grassy, extremely astringent, delicate, floral, roasted, or sweet.

China heavily produces black teas for export. Although, among natives, green tea is the beverage of choice in most areas. Dragonwell (a.k.a. Lung Ching) is one of China's finest and often served to visiting diplomats. Hyson style green teas are also quite poplular from China, and great for using in flavored blends as well as stand alone. Dragonwell has a large, deep green, flat leaf; while hyson is mostly curled and twisted and can very in color depending on the age and quality of the leaf.

Japan is the other big producer of green teas. Most popular is the sencha style green tea. Often grassy and vegetal with a small flat leaf. Very commonly served in Japanese restaurants here in the States. Among the most coveted teas from Japan include Gyokuro which is dark green and shiny in the leaf, quite vegetal and seaweed-y in the cup. Unique in its growing process, the leaves are shaded several weeks before harvest.

Matcha is a style of green tea making a buzz in the culinary scene. Extremely high in antioxidants and great for cooking with or throwing in your morning shake. Containing pure tea leaf, the stem and veins are removed and the remaining matter is powdered, creating the most potent tea to be consumed. Matcha is produced mostly in Japan, however, gaining ground in other countries such as China and Canada.

As popularity and world demand grows, we'll see other regions become bigger players in green tea production. For example, India is stepping up its production recognizing the need, as well as seeing local consumption increase. Our Glenburn Darjeeling Green is a most spectacular specimen of just how unique and exquisite an Indian green tea can be! Upon my first cup, I was hooked.

This is by no means a complete list of all the green teas but a starting place in getting to know some of the options out there. Go Green Tasting! Coming from a belief that they don't like green teas, some folks are pleasantly surprised when they come across a green they actually enjoy and appreciate. I say, "welcome to the green side!"

What do you look for in a green tea?

We tout the benefits of drinking loose leaf tea over bagged quite a bit here at Discover Teas. However, even among loose leaf, there are different standards and quality levels. Not all loose tea is the same! Finding a loose leaf to drink doesn’t always equate to high quality tea in the cup.

Some examples of quality variance show up in processing, leaf appearance, and flavoring. Take our Jasmine Dragon Tears for example. They are prepared in the historically traditional, hand crafted manner, layered seven times with fresh jasmine buds; which make these pearls one of our premium teas at $32 for two ounces. You can order jasmine pearls online, go into the local mall and get some, pay a lot less elsewhere. If you taste them side by side with ours, if jasmine is your thing, there’s no question in my mind which one to opt for.

Just looking at the loose leaf will tell you a lot about its journey. An over dried leaf can show dullness in color, lack of aroma can indicate being stale, too much stem and variance in leaf size can point to poor crop picking or sorting, not getting the most coveted part of the plant. Of course there are exceptions depending on the variety of tea.

Decaffeinated teas are also big ones that are easy to distinguish quality. The few decaffeinated tea options we carry (not talking herbal here, but actual tea leaves) are naturally processed with CO2, instead of with chemical washing. The process uses high pressure and temperature to extract caffeine and leave the nuances of the tea intact. It’s a more labor intensive process which brings a higher price tag, but you’re saving yourself the formaldehyde preserving factor of the alternative. The result is definitely a healthier cup, but also no strange aftertaste normally found with chemical processing.

Flavored teas have an even wider range of quality. Just because a tea looks colorfully fruited and smells delectable, it doesn’t necessarily translate to a good tasting cup, especially when artificial flavoring methods are used. Synthetic chemicals, mold cultures, preservatives, and just plain filler to add weight are used to allure a buyer with a pretty picture and smell. Some companies even add sweeteners to their teas to try to enhance the flavors. For those drinking tea for health reasons, that kind of defeats the purpose.

I believe if you start with a natural high quality loose tea, there’s no need for all the additives and artificial flavoring. A great tea will taste great naturally. We take pride in the quality of all of our teas at Discover Teas, along with the fact that all of our flavored teas and herbals are all natural. No weird chemicals, no synthetics. If it’s a fruit flavored tea, it has that fruit; if it’s a floral tea, it has that floral essence; if it’s spiced, it’s the real thing.

Someone just came into the shop asking for a pound of Decaf English Breakfast, scoffed at the price I quoted, “What?! I can get it for $14!”, and scurried out. I really need to chuckle and be grateful. That served as a timely reminder that I’ve been meaning to write up a blog on this subject for some time now. You may be able to find teas cheaper, but they aren’t always worth it. The saying “you get what you pay for” comes to mind. Once you get a taste of pure high quality, you know. That’s one of the reasons our customers come back again and again. They trust we will deliver on fresh, splendid loose teas. And of course, all of our teas have that something extra—love.