Where is Your Green Tea From? The Variations of Chinese and Japanese Green Tea
Green tea comes from Camellia sinensis plants grown in China or Japan, but within that region, the plant comes in several varieties.
Aside from differences between Japanese and Chinese blends, various regions of China have their own blends.
Essentially, a blend is determined upon how the leaves are processed after being picked or the location of where the leaves are picked.
As a result, the familiar flavor has a number of variations, all based on the same plant and processing methods.
When you purchase green tea in a bagged or loose blend, the type of leaves is often specified, although gunpowder and sencha blends are two common teas found in North America.
Green tea is grown all over China, and, in fact, the beverage was first drunk in China, not Japan.
Several Chinese provinces are known for green tea production, and some even have multiple blends within borders.
Some of these provinces include Hunan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei, Henan, Jiangxi, and Anhui.
Out of these various locations, gunpowder and longjing are best known and easily found in the western tea market.
The former, gunpowder, is a tea blend named after the shape of the leaves, which are rolled and dried into pellets that resemble gunpowder.
Longjing, in addition, is considered the national drink of China.
In terms of preparation, the tea is pan-fired, which stops the fermentation process that most teas are put through.
Although smaller in area, Japan has a number of tea blends, as well.
Japanese green tea, however, isn't sorted so much by region but how the tea leaves are processed after being picked and if anything additional is included in the blend.
One of the more popular blends is Bancha, which contains tea leaves and twigs from the bush in the mixture and, as one of the lower-quality Japanese green teas, Bancha is referred to as "common tea.
" Other types are genmaicha, also known as brown rice tea; gyokuro; hojicha, in which the leaves are roasted over charcoal; kabusecha; kamairicha, or pan-fried tea leaves; matcha, which is used for tea ceremonies and flavoring for ice cream; mecha, a combination of buds and tips; and sencha, the most commonly drank tea in Japan.
At higher-end beverage retailers, many of these types of green tea can be found in bagged and loose blends.
For picking up a box of tea at your local grocery store, the green tea blend will most likely be Japanese sencha tea or a blend of Chinese.
As most green tea blends are light in flavor, some are infused with additional flavors, such as fruits or mint by the addition of dried leaves or fruit peels in the tea blend.
Aside from differences between Japanese and Chinese blends, various regions of China have their own blends.
Essentially, a blend is determined upon how the leaves are processed after being picked or the location of where the leaves are picked.
As a result, the familiar flavor has a number of variations, all based on the same plant and processing methods.
When you purchase green tea in a bagged or loose blend, the type of leaves is often specified, although gunpowder and sencha blends are two common teas found in North America.
Green tea is grown all over China, and, in fact, the beverage was first drunk in China, not Japan.
Several Chinese provinces are known for green tea production, and some even have multiple blends within borders.
Some of these provinces include Hunan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei, Henan, Jiangxi, and Anhui.
Out of these various locations, gunpowder and longjing are best known and easily found in the western tea market.
The former, gunpowder, is a tea blend named after the shape of the leaves, which are rolled and dried into pellets that resemble gunpowder.
Longjing, in addition, is considered the national drink of China.
In terms of preparation, the tea is pan-fired, which stops the fermentation process that most teas are put through.
Although smaller in area, Japan has a number of tea blends, as well.
Japanese green tea, however, isn't sorted so much by region but how the tea leaves are processed after being picked and if anything additional is included in the blend.
One of the more popular blends is Bancha, which contains tea leaves and twigs from the bush in the mixture and, as one of the lower-quality Japanese green teas, Bancha is referred to as "common tea.
" Other types are genmaicha, also known as brown rice tea; gyokuro; hojicha, in which the leaves are roasted over charcoal; kabusecha; kamairicha, or pan-fried tea leaves; matcha, which is used for tea ceremonies and flavoring for ice cream; mecha, a combination of buds and tips; and sencha, the most commonly drank tea in Japan.
At higher-end beverage retailers, many of these types of green tea can be found in bagged and loose blends.
For picking up a box of tea at your local grocery store, the green tea blend will most likely be Japanese sencha tea or a blend of Chinese.
As most green tea blends are light in flavor, some are infused with additional flavors, such as fruits or mint by the addition of dried leaves or fruit peels in the tea blend.
