Green tea is supposed to be good for you, right? But from what I understand, quality matters. Many tea enthusiasts insist on loose leaf, never bags. So that got me wondering about the quality of my bagged green tea. I opened one up, and found at leas 1/4th of it appeared to be sticks and twigs. Needless to say, I won't be buying that brand again. So I am wondering if any of you out there are an authority on this subject. I don't want to become a tea snob or anything, but I am willing to pay a few extra dollars so that I can get a good quality tea. Is there a decent yet affordable brand?
I usually get green tea bags from Japan, they might be a bit pricier but you're usually assured of quality. Make sure that it originates from Japan though, there are some brands which hail from China or Taiwan but pretend to be from Japan, with Japanese lettering all over the packaging.
I was raised on drinking green tea in the loose tea leaf form, so whenever I drink green tea in the package form it feels weird to me. The tea just isn't as strong as I like it. The best place to get loose leaf tea, if there are no specialty places in the area, would be Chinatown in a large city or something. You may have to ask them for suggestions depending on strong or weak you like the tea, but either way loose leaf is the way to go
Yeah quality always matter for higher yields of benefit for a human, but sometimes purported quality brands may be slightly better than mediocre or quantitative brands. For cheap green tea, I usually buy Bigelow green tea, which I drink mostly when I'm not at home and out traveling. For a quality brand of green tea that I drink, I go for Teavana Blackberry Mojito Loose-Leaf Green Tea, because this tea simply tastes great and flavorful.
I am a huge fan of Jasmine Tea which is a green tea. I buy organic when I can from the local Chinese grocery who sells it prepackaged or in bulk or I but a brand prepacked called Good Earth. It has a soft flavor but works wonderful on the digestive track. It seems wonderful, It is said it helps you loose weight and I agree. There is a slight astringent effect which stimulates you to go. I do not feel jittery when i drink this tea, unlike others that seem to effect me more with the caffeine. Jasmine tea is high in vitamin C, about the only drawback is the green tea can stain tooth enamel.
Honestly, if you want true quality then you have to look for either organic of a highly recognize "natural" brand. The simple fact is that the highest quality of food now is organic as it is its most "natural" state. I'm not really a tea guy but I always try and buy organic when available.
