About Green Tea

Green tea is bottled and sold by many different companies in the United States. It has become as common as Pepsi or Coke in vending machines and convenience stores. With the overwhelming market saturation, you may be wondering what is the best green tea you can drink.

 Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis or tea plant. It originated in China about 4,000 years ago and has since spread to Japan, Thailand and many more Middle Eastern countries. The varieties differ not only from geographical location but from growing conditions as well. A significant change in the weather from one year to the next can influence the quality of the tea. Each tea derives its name from the province in which it is grown.

 Along with weather is the manner in which the tea is manufactured. Tea is grown on estates and each estate will have a specific grade of tea for the year. Many large-scale productions will mix teas from different estates and thereby dilute the quality green tea. For this reason, it is best to choose a single estate green tea.

 That being said it can be difficult to find these types of teas and when you do, they may be extremely expensive. Such as some of the following types:

 1. One of the oldest and well-known teas is Pu-erh tea. Named for Puer County near Simmao Yunnan China. It is made from the broad leaf of the tea tree and comes in two forms raw or cooked. Unlike many other forms of green tea, Puerh can be used immediately or aged for many years. The fact that it has such a long shelf life makes this one of the best green teas, however it is difficult to find authentic Pu-erh tea and when you do it will be very expensive.

 2. Sencha Tea is another popular variety of green tea; this is a popular everyday tea from Japan. Made from flat dark green leaves this fragrant tea is loaded with vitamin C and antioxidants. Drinkers of this type of tea find it to also be one on the best green teas on the market for taste and cost. However, because brewing can be difficult, too long, or hot and it is bitter, it is not the best green tea.

 3. Myou-Kou is a Japanese variety of green tea that is thicker and has a much bolder taste.

 Conclusion

 Green tea has many health benefits, weight loss, digestion, lowered blood pressure, and cholesterol. The choosing the best green tea has more to do with personal preference than anything else. As you can see from the small sample of green teas above, there are many varieties and each one has a distinctive flavor.