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There's a loose leaf green tea to suit everyone's taste. What's yours?
The advantage of brewing up loose leaf green tea is you can enjoy the health benefits and real flavour. Loose Leaf Sencha Green Tea
Sencha is the most popular leaf green tea in Japan. Most Japanese people enjoy a cup at morning tea or afternoon tea. With most Japanese drink at least two cups a day, sencha is a wonderful everyday cup of tea.How does it taste? Sencha has a fresh, sweet flavour, which is balanced with a mild astringency. How is Sencha made? Loose leaf sencha is made by a process of steaming, drying and rolling of the leaves. When the tea leaves are steamed it stops them from oxidising and maintains the high level of polyphenols. This gives the tea drinker optimal health benefits, and differentiates it from the processing of black tea (where the leaves are panned, and most of the health benefits lost).
Find out how to brew sencha green tea here.
Premium sencha comes from the first picking of the tea bush. This takes place from late February in the warmer parts of Japan. Picking continues until May as the warm temperatures move north, up the main island of Honshu in Japan. Premium sencha has a mellow, refreshing, sweet flavour. It is also characterised by a sweet aromatic flavour.
You can buy fresh, premium quality Japanese sencha here.
Regular sencha is drunk on a daily basis in Japan, and is usually made up of tea leaves from later pickings. It is high in vitamin C, and usually drunk with or after a meal. Regular sencha is refreshing and tends to be more crisp and astringent than premium sencha. If you want to learn more about green tea's health benefits, click here. Loose Leaf Gyokuro Green Tea
Gyokuro is the highest grade of loose leaf green tea available in Japan.What does a high grade green tea taste like? It has a delicate, smooth, mild flavour, and is usually served in small tea cups.
To buy delicate, aromatic gyokuro green tea - click here.
Gyokuro's leaves are a rich, dark green. This is because the tea bush is covered with a reed screen two to three weeks prior to picking. This protects the leaves from direct sunlight. After the leaves have been picked they are steamed and then dried. The leaf veins and stems are removed in the drying process. And unlike sencha and other green teas, the leaves are not rolled. Gyokuro also contains a high level of theanine which promotes relaxation, calming the mind without causing drowsiness.
To learn more about high grade green tea - click here.
Loose Leaf Genmaicha Green Tea
Genmaicha is usually enjoyed with a meal.What does it taste like? Genmaicha has a mild flavour, with a delicious, slightly nutty taste. It is a great accompaniment to a meal. What is genmaicha? Genmaicha is a loose leaf green tea made from bancha or medium-grade sencha blended with well-roasted and popped brown rice. Genmaicha has a distinct, rich toasty aroma.
Find out how to brew genmaicha loose leaf green tea.
Loose Leaf HojichaHojicha is especially known for its lower caffeine content, making it suitable for all ages, and a great tea to enjoy in the evening or with a meal.What does it taste like? Hojicha is characterized by a wonderful unique toasty flavour. How is loose leaf Hojicha made? Hojicha is a loose leaf green tea made from pan-roasted sencha or bancha leaves. The leaves are roasted over a high heat, producing brown, rusty-coloured leaves.The roasting process reduces the caffeine and tannin content. Learn how to brew hojicha loose Loose Leaf Kukicha Green TeaKukicha is a loose leaf green tea made from the stems and stalks removed during the processing of sencha and gyokuro.Kukicha has a rich roasted taste and pleasant aroma. It is less astringent than other green teas. Loose Leaf Bancha Green TeaBancha is a loose leaf green tea made up of new leaves which have grown after the first picking in late February. Bancha includes some of the discarded leaves and stems leftover from the sencha pickings.Bancha is characterized by a more bold, astringent flavour than sencha.It's ideal to drink with or after a meal. Find out how to brew Bancha green tea. Loose Leaf Konacha Green TeaIf you've ever been to a sushi restaurant you would have tried konacha.It's a tea powder which is made from leftover buds and dust discarded in the processing of sencha and gyokuro.Konacha is an affordable tea which is great to drink or to use in cooking.
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