Iced Tea & Chinese Vs. Japanese Green Teas

Gallons of iced green tea passed my lips this weekend. More specifically, Crime of Passion Green Tea was consumed in mass quantities by me and my family. The extreme temperature swings that Indiana is known for happened over the weekend when we went from the mid to low 60’s to 90 degrees. So it is now officially Iced Tea Season for me.

Today is the day I change all the specials and send out a newsletter letting everyone know what the new specials are. This weeks Tea of the Week, is our Decaffeinated Sencha Green Tea, which is 20% off this week. This tea is great for those of you who can’t have the caffeine but still want the health benefits green tea provides.

Today we kick off our Summer Iced Tea Sale. One pound and half pound bags of all of our Flavored black & Green teas are on sale for 10% off the regular price.  

Today I have a cup of iced Strawberry Green Tea which I don’t enjoy as much as Long Island Strawberry Green Tea. I prefer the sencha tea base and the better strawberry flavor of the Long Island Strawberry. I was a die hard black tea fan but I have been won over by the Japanese green teas. They just have a better flavor to them and I think that has to do with the very low oxidization that occurs in the processing of these teas. It is not true that green teas are totally un-oxidized, a small level of oxidization occurs during processing. There is a big difference visually and flavor wise between the Chinese or rolled & formed green teas and Japanese green teas which are less physically processed. The cells in the tea leaves are broken when they roll or tie the leaves which cause a certain level of oxidization. The Japanese tea leaves are much greener and the resulting brew is light yellowish green to green which has a sweeter cleaner flavor. A rolled green tea will have a darker colored leaf, tending toward brown and the brew will be yellow to amber color and have a tinge of Oolong flavor to it. Another difference in the process for Chinese and Japanese teas is that almost all Japanese teas are steamed which I think is one of the keys to the clean flavor.