Okay, so you’ve heard that drinking green tea is good for you and you decided to give it a go. You went to the shops, took a bit of time and chose yourself a decent packet of green tea bags, went back home, put the kettle on, popped a teabag into a mug, poured freshly boiled water on it, refrained from adding a dash of milk ‘cos, hey, everyone knows you don’t need milk in green tea, right? BUT when you finally sat down and took a sip it was bitter, verging on the undrinkable.

In fact it was undrinkable!

Why?

Well, it’s quite easy to answer that question… it’s always easy when you know the answer, isn’t it?

There are many different types of tea : black tea, green tea, matcha green tea, white tea, yellow tea, tea from India, tea from China, tea from Vietnam, tea from Japan, tea from Kenya, oolong tea from Taiwan and the list goes on. There are almost as many teas as there are tea plantations. Let’s just concentrate on black tea and green tea for the moment, shall we?

In the UK most of the tea we drink nowadays is black, we buy it from the supermarket and it’s usually in the form of tea bags.

Well, if you take a few minutes to consider where the tea comes from, where it’s grown and how it’s actually treated or processed once picked, then you’ll understand just how important it is to brew it properly in order to get the best flavour from your cuppa, whatever type of tea you fancy.

Tea leaves are picked from a bush in the family of Theaceae, the Camellia Sinensis. They go through a process to transform them into dried leaves before being packed ready for use. The process they undergo before drying dictates what type of tea comes out the other end.

Black Tea is Roasted but Green Tea is Dried

In simple terms black tea is cooked, or roasted, whereas green tea is only dried. So, when it comes to brewing, the leaves react differently requiring higher or lower water temperature, longer or shorter brewing times and one or several brews to get the most out of them.

Not everyone knows that Japanese teas as actually quite giving – you can brew the same tea leaves at least 3 times. As more and more components are extracted the brew will gradually get lighter and lighter. To have enough taste in the next brews it is recommended to raise the temperature, increase the steeping time, or both. Global Japanese Tea Association.

Always Brew your Black Tea and Green Tea Differently for the Perfect Cup

As we explained in an earlier article tea is brewed differently depending on what type of tea it is, but also on your own particular taste. Here’s our quick guide to brewing hot or cold :

Hot brew tea

Hot brew black tea	Hot brew green tea
1 teabag per mug (2.5g for 200ml)	1 teabag per mug (2.5g for 200ml)
freshly boiled water	water at 80°C (add a little cold to the boiled)
brew for 3-5 minutes	brew for 1-2 minutes and re-brew

Cold brew tea

Cold brew black tea	Cold brew green tea
2 teabags per jug (5g for 500ml)	2 teabags per jug (5g for 500ml)
room temperature filtered water	room temperature filtered water
brew for 1-5 hours (keep refrigerated)	brew for 1-5 hours (keep refrigerated)

Look here for more information about brewing cold and here for iced-tea recipes.

Our 10 Best Green Teas for you

Unflavoured green tea comes in a range of qualities and of course prices, so like lots of produce, you get what you pay for with tea. There are also loads of flavoured green teas on the market, what you choose is a question of personal taste. Here are our top 10 favourite green teas :

• Genmaicha, green tea with grilled rice
• Gunpowder, rolled green tea leaves
• Sencha, flat green tea leaves
• Bancha, Japanese green tea
• Matcha, powdered Japanese green tea
• Cranberry and Ginger, flavoured green tea with fruit
• Raspberry, flavoured green tea with fruit
• Almond and coconut, flavoured green tea with almond and coconut peices
• Jasmine, green tea naturally flavoured with Jasmine petals
• Mint, green tea flavoured with dried peppermint