What green tea should I buy?

Tea is very similar to wine; which one to go for is entirely a personal choice.  The following are some guidelines for those who are about to start, or have just started drinking green teas.

Use loose leaf tea where possible

The tea used for tea bags is the tea dust which ranks lowest on the tea quality scale, regardless of brand.  The tea ranking sequence is as such: leaf tea - broken tea - fanning – dust. One of teas’ worst enemies is oxidization. Even with high quality teas, once they  are oxidized, they become bitter with a rough texture and unpleasant after taste.  This oxidization process occurs many more times in broken leaves than whole leaves.

Purchase new season teas

This is particularly important for green tea.  Good quality green teas should have a delightful aroma and refreshing taste and after taste.  With proper packaging (vacuum sealed) and storage (refrigeration), this quality is preserved quite well for at least 12 moths and will deteriorate thereafter.  I have seen teas still being sold many years after their production, looking dark and stale but being marketed as ‘premium & authentic’.   Purchase the new season teas where possible.

Which green tea to start with?

Green tea is the biggest class of Chinese teas with more than three hundred varieties recorded. Dragon Well & Bi Luo Chun are among the most popular ones.  Dragon Well has a delightful roasted chestnut aroma and refreshing taste, very accessible to green tea beginners.  Bi Luo Chun is light and mellowing at first, but with a lingering, pleasant after taste.  Trying small quantities of each is a good place to start.
Jasmine green tea is green tea scented by jasmine flower pedals. If you like jasmine perfume, you will enjoy this one to a great extent.
If you order from us for the first time and would like to try a variety of green teas, please do not forget to select these in your ‘customer comment’ section during the checkout process and we will be very happy to include some samples in your order.  Alternatively, you could try our selection pack that has a range of green, Oolong, white, jasmine and black teas.

What quality grade to start with?

Start with premium quality grade and adjust from there.  Chinese tea is all about quality, similar to wine.  There is an extra edge to the aroma, taste and texture in the higher grade quality teas.  Full appreciation, however, comes with experience, so take the time to experiment.