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If you’ve ever shopped for green tea, no doubt you’re aware
that there are a vast number of choices. There are green teas
from many regions of the world, and many varieties, grades and
flavors from each region.
Green tea was likely the first kind of tea. About 3000 years
ago in China, people plucked fresh tea leaves and let them dry
in the sun before storing them. In the 8th century, tea
processors began using the evaporation process, and by the 12th
century, they began saut=E9ing the leaves. Basically, green tea
came about before tea processors learned the methods associated
with processing black tea.
Even today, green tea is one of the teas left in its most
natural state. Unlike black tea, green tea is unfermented. This
lack of fermentation leaves the chlorophyll in the leaves, so
that they retain their green color. Green tea also retains more
of its natural anti-oxidants as a result of being unfermented.
This makes green tea a far healthier choice than black tea.
The natural anti-oxidants in green tea hold a great deal of
power for protecting our health and preventing disease.
Anti-oxidants are important to our health because they
neutralize free radicals. Free radicals are created in our
bodies as a by product of digestion. These oxygen containing
molecules damage our cells and DNA if left unchecked.
A diet rich in foods such as fruits, vegetables and other plant
products like tea, helps rid our bodies of free radicals before
they can damage our bodies.
In recent years, there has been an abundance of research
showing that long term drinking of green tea can protect our
bodies from many forms of disease, including cancer, heart
disease and high cholesterol. Green tea has also been shown to
be an effective weight loss supplement as well as a natural way
to help regulate insulin levels. More research is needed, but
it’s very likely that as time goes on we’ll find more and more
health reasons for making green tea part of our everyday lives.
Classifying Green Tea
The many different varieties of green tea are classified, in
part, by the method in which they are dried. The five methods
of drying green tea include:
=95Stir Frying – Fresh tea leaves are sauteed in a pan. This
process is mainly used for export teas. Stir frying gives green
a strong fragrance and taste. Some common varieties of green tea
that are stir fried include gunpowder teas and Dragonwell teas.
=95Roasting =96 Tea leaves are dried in a roast basket or roast
chest. In most cases roasted teas are used as the basis for
flower scented teas. Roasting keeps the leaves intact and makes
them appear as though covered in a white fluff. Monkey king teas
are roasted.
=95Semi-roast and semi fry =96 Sometimes the stir frying and
roasting methods are combined. This method is used in order to
retain the beautiful look of a roasted leaf combined with the
strong fragrance and taste of stir fried tea.
=95Solar drying =96 This is the age old method, whereby leaves are
dried in the sun. Today these leaves are typically used as the
basis for compressed teas. These are the “green tea cakes” you
sometimes see.
=95Steaming =96 The leaves are steamed at a very high temperature
to dry them. The most famous steamed green tea is Sencha.
Within each of these varieties of green tea, there are also
quality grades. It can be very difficult to determine, however,
the quality of tea you’re buying, because each country has
different grading methods. China, which produces more green tea
than any other country in the world, grades their green tea
something like this.
First, teas for export are graded according to the age of the
leaf and the finished shape of the leaf. These categories
include gunpowder, imperial, young hyson, hyson, twankay, hyson
skin, and dust. Within each of these categories there are
several quality grades; sometimes as many as nine grades within
one leaf shape.
With all the complicated categories of green tea, it can be
difficult to know which ones to dry. Understanding the
different drying methods and how they affect the flavor of the
tea will give you a good start, as you can select varieties
dried in the method that produces the taste you prefer.
However, when it comes to selecting the best quality of this
variety, you have little to go on. There are a couple of ways
to spot good quality tea:
=95Form – Loose tea is higher quality than bagged tea. Whether
it’s black tea, green tea or white tea, you can bet that the
lowest quality leaves are the ones used in tea bags. For good
tea, always buy loose tea.
=95Price =96 If loose green tea is really inexpensive, it’s
probably not very good quality. Shop around to get a good idea
of a fair price for good loose green tea so that you can
accurately judge prices.
=95Reputation of Tea Company =96 One of the best ways to ensure
that you get good tea is to buy from a tea company with a
reputation for selling only the highest quality teas. This is
particularly important when shopping online.
It’s true that there are many varieties of green tea. But,
that’s what makes trying green tea so much fun! There’s almost
no end to the many flavors and nuances you can find in the
different varieties of green tea. You’re sure to want to try
them all!
About The Author: Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon
Tea Company. For more information about tea, wholesale tea and
black tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com.
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