Green Tea

What it tastes like: Grassy
Caffeine content: 20 mg (per 120 ml or 4 fl. oz cup)
How to drink it: Plain or lightly sweetened.

Green tea is rapidly growing in popularity because of the vast range of health benefits said to derive from drinking it. Green tea is subject to minimal processing. A notable exception to the lower caffeine content in green tea is matcha, a powdered green tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies; it contains more caffeine than coffee.

Green tea comes from the same plant as black tea, only here the fermentation process is prevented by heat treatment immediately after withering. The oxidation process is stopped after a minimal amount of oxidation by application of heat either with steam, a traditional Japanese method or by dry cooking in hot pans, the traditional Chinese method. Tea leaves may be left to dry as separate leaves or rolled into small pellets to make gun-powder tea. The latter process is time-consuming and is typically done only with pekoes of higher quality. The tea is processed within one to two days of harvesting.

The production of green tea

The production of Green Tea is similar to black tea production only here the fermentation process is prevented by heat treatment immediately after withering.

Withering:
This process is only carried out where necessary. The necessity and duration of withering varies widely according to the desired type of tea.

Steaming / dry heat treatment:
This destroys the plant's own enzymes so that the leaf will retain its green colour instead of turning ""black"".

Rolling:
Rolling is performed manually or by machine depending on the type of tea. In many cases the leaf is rolled into an artistic shape following a tradition which dates back thousands of years.

Drying:
For this purpose, the leaves are either stacked in hot-air rack driers or exposed to the natural heat of the sun.

Sorting:
Green tea is available in the same familiar grades - leaf, broken, fannings or dust - as black tea, depending on the production specification.

Green tea is a strongly alkaline drink which protects the body from hyperacidity. It contains numerous tannins, minerals and vitamins.