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Top 3 Things That You Didn't Know About Green Tea

Posted by Roman Kashcheev on

Let's talk about green tea. Green tea is one of the healthiest drinks you can have. Numerous studies have shown that green tea may improve brain function, aid in fat loss, may prevent cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes.

With that said, let's have a look at the top 3 things you may not have known about green tea.

  1. Brewing green tea

Have you ever had a cup of green tea that tasted bitter, astringent? It's unpleasant, right? Unfortunately, this is a quite common brewing mistake. This leads to a completely wrong impression on what tea is like.

So what went wrong? Green teas are delicate, and MUST be brewed with 80°C / 176°F water. Brewing green tea with boiling water releases unwanted bitterness and astringency from your tea leaves, leaving you with unpleasant brew.

Next time your are brewing some green tea, leave the kettle lid open for 2-3 min after boiling some water. The same goes for your tea pot or a gaiwan – once you've brewed the tea, leave the lid open to cool down the leaves. Leaving the lid on will "bake" the leaves, releasing the same unwanted flavour notes. Let us know how your next brewing session went in the comments below!

  1. How green tea is processed

Tea, and green tea specifically, is very minimally processed. After the leaves are picked, they are allowed to wither under the sun, and then heat is applied to stop the oxidation process. This minimal processing means that green tea keeps the natural polyphenols contained in the tea plant itself. The polyphenols in green tea are commonly known as catechins. There are four kinds of catechins mainly find in green tea: epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin-3-gallate, and EGCG. Catechins are powerful anti-oxidants that help prevent cell damage.

  1. Green tea makes you calmer

Green tea contains L-theanine, which is an amino acid exclusive to tea plants, and acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Studies have shown that L-theanine increases alpha-wave generation in the human brain, signalling a state of relaxation.

Recommendations

If you are interested in trying some single-batch, 

2021 Supreme Longjing (1st Picking), part of Teahead Reserve collection

2021 Longjing

Dragon Pearl Jasmine

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