What Is Green Tea?

Series Summary

Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, second only to water. It is an infusion of processed leaves, buds, or twigs of a tea bush steeped in hot water, offering a multitude of subtle medicinal benefits and comfort. Originating in southeast Asia, tea has an array of creation myths, including Chinese Emperor Shennong's serendipitous consumption of the mystic beverage in 2737 BC. Containing over seven hundred chemicals, tea possesses proven health benefits like antioxidants, heart disease prevention, blood pressure normalization, and aiding digestion. Whether drinking for spiritual fulfillment or medicinal aid, tea is a comforting beverage enjoyed hot or cold, green or black, sweet or earthy. One of the healthiest teas in the world is green tea, packed full of antioxidants. In this free tea video series, a tea lounge owner discusses the types of green tea. Learn the difference between Chinese and Japanese green tea, find out how it is produced, and learn how to properly brew it. Start brewing the perfect cup of tea with this informative guide.

Video Transcript

"Hi so what is green tea? Green tea, you need to keep in mind, the best ones come from China and Japan. Green tea also is not fermented, is a term that's used a lot. It is not also oxidized either. Once you've picked green tea, what's usually done it's taken automatically into heat. In Japan they would steam it, in China they would pan fire it and put it into a big wok and add heat to it to stop the tea leaves from withering. This process keeps green tea, green. The brew will have a light gold to a green tint. The Japanese tea you will see a darker emerald type of green. And in this regard, green tea has a lot of antioxidants that's not present in other teas such as Oolong or black. In addition green tea has moderate amount of caffeine, because it's still processed a little bit. The pan firing is done to keep the tea leaves green. After that they would take it off the wok or the steamer and let the leaves dry on their own. But in Chinese version, they would roll into various shapes and sizes and such."