Green tea is known as unoxidised tea, is made solely from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. The leaves are plucked, slightly withered, then immediately cooked to preserve the green quality and prevent oxidization. As a result of these ethods, green teas have a much higher concentration of chlorophyll, polyphenols, and antioxidants than other tea types.
The growing conditions for green tea can be broken down between two different types: sun-grown and shade-grown. The leaves are generally harvested three times a year with the first flush producing the highest quality leaves.
The heating process differs greatly depending on the region and the tea maker’s techniques.
There is a definite taste difference between shade grown tea and sun grown tea.
Imagine the difference between a Matcha and a regular green tea. Matcha is a shade grown tea, the best actually. And as a representative of shaded tea, it’s flavorful, meaning umami, with a very deep note and even a hint of sweetness towards the end. The sweetness is more like a buttery sweetness.
On the other hand, sun grown tea is more astringent, and a little plainer in flavor.
It’s what you get most of the time when you order green tea. Unless you specifically order Gyokuro or Tencha – both shaded tea, and closely related to Matcha.
Shading the tea does improve flavor, but it makes things more complicated. Judging when to shade the tea, when to uncover it, and how much to move the coverings each day is a lot of work.
Not to mention actually, physically doing all that work.
So, shaded tea is more labor intensive, and requires a whole lot of work.
This is the main reason shaded tea is always more expensive than regular, sun grown tea.
Another item to drive the price up is the definite improvement in flavor, so you’re going to be paying extra but it’s definitely worth it.
Green tea is touted to be one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.
Now, let’s just take a glimpse at the most promoted benefits of this marvelous tea that has been used for centuries in Asian medicine and still has an important part in it:
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Antioxidants: Green tea is a rich source of antioxidants, which are compounds that help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals. These antioxidants may help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, heart disease, and other diseases according to a multitude of studies
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Weight loss: Research suggests that green tea may help with weight loss by increasing metabolism and fat oxidation.
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Heart health: Green tea may help reduce the risk of heart disease by improving cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
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Mental alertness: Green tea contains caffeine, which can help improve mental alertness and concentration.
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Diabetes management: Green tea may help improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels, making it potentially beneficial for people with diabetes
We’ll go into each of this and much more soon but for now let’s just keep in mind that regardless of the huge benefits this drink is purely delicious