what's up with this green tea thing?

I don't know how long I've been into this green tea thing but if you're like me you've noticed that for the past several years now markets have really been pushing green tea products. Most likely the green tea items we have been served in America are modified versions.

First of all there are many types of green tea...

Sencha is the most popular green tea in a traditional Japanese home. It is grown in the sun.

Gyokuro, grown in the shade, is the finest, most expensive Japanese green. It is mellow tasting and slightly sweet.

Shin-cha, or new tea, is made from the young leaves of the first harvest of the year. The drying process for shin-cha is much shorter than that of normal sencha, so shin-cha has a fresh green flavor and aroma. Japanese people look forward to the new crop of sin-cha every year and enjoy it during the early summer months when it is in season.

Hojicha is green tea that has been roasted over charcoal. When brewed, the tea, like the leaves themselves, is brown. It is milder than sencha with a woodsy flavor and makes a great companion to fruits and other desserts.

Genmaicha is a mixture of green tea leaves and roasted brown rice. The rice adds a nutty, sweet grainy flavor to the tea.

Genmaimacha is a mixture of green tea leaves, roasted brown rice and powdered green tea, creating layers of flavour.

However the type that I hear about most often is Matcha. Matcha is a powdered green tea that is commonly used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

To make matcha one must simply take matcha


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and then two scoops with a bamboo tea scooper


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Then mix the matcha with 2 oz of hot water


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and a bamboo green tea whisk


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Whala then you have matcha green tea.

Do not expect this to taste like tea you drink in a Chinese or Japanese restaurant. If you are looking for this your best bet is to purchase green tea from a tea bag.


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The green tea I usually consume is from Trader Joe's Market.


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I am curious how different another brand of green tea might taste. For instance, I have purchased various teas from the Tazo tea brand but have yet to try their green tea.

Bagged tea is much cheaper than loose tea and a lot easier to deal with. I do enjoy loose tea as you can truly see the beauty of the tea itself and enjoy as something you put together yourself. Of course making tea out of loose tea is not difficult however it adds a certain something when you are in the mood for the ceremony of it.



If you're looking for iced green tea it is wise to understand what you are purchasing. The above Oi Ocha brand is unsweetened green tea and can be found in many Japanese Markets. I remember the first time I purchased iced green tea from a can which I purchased in a Japanese market. It was incredibley hard to get down. Incredibley bitter.


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Trader Joe's Market has a unsweeted iced green tea and it too is the real deal.



Arizona teas have several iced green tea flavors. Their main staple of green tea flavors is their green tea with ginseng and honey. I enjoy these from time to time when I want a green tea "flavored" drink that is cold. When you look at the tea itself there is nothing green about it. It's more of a honey or yellow or typical "tea" color.


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Green tea lattes seem to be a craze. You can buy one at your nearest Starbucks or you can purchase them at markets.


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According to bygonebureau Trader Joe's sells the mix. However I usually stay away from green tea lattes as they I have found them to be a bit too sweet for me.


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I do not however, find Jamba Juice's "Matcha Green Tea Blast" to be too sweet. It consists of matcha green tea, non fat frozen yogurt, plain sorbet, ice and soymilk.


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Green tea ice cream is my all time favorite flavor of ice cream. I say it is best in traditional Japanese restaurants. However, many ice cream companies are bringing green tea ice cream to the masses.

Although, I know for a fact that certain mainstream ice cream brands have put out green tea ice cream I have found that it is rare that it will appear on the local market shelves.


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I have however, always been able to count on Trader Joe's for selling Mikawaya's green tea Mochi ice cream. Basically it is a ball of green tea ice cream with a layer of mochi which is a chewy sticky rice coating.


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The ice cream ball is covered it white starchy powder which makes it easier to grab the mochi ball and not get stickiness all over your hand. Instead you get powder on your hands but it's not that much of a mess to put up with.

FYI, Trader Joe's also sells Mikawaya's mochi ice cream balls in mango, strawberry and chocolate. The chocolate actually has chocolate pieces in it.

I just checked out the Mikawaya website and it turns out that they also sell vanilla, coffee and red bean flavors.

I once tried purchasing green tea mochi ice cream balls from a traditional Japanese market and I could barely choke down one bite. The outer mochi was too thin and grainy and the ice cream was too bitter.

Matcha green tea does have a bitter grassy flavor which I like however I suppose I am not able to handle the hardcore traditional stuff.


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I purchased a box of Picola wafers last week from my local Japanese market. I have seen versions of these placed along side cappuccino in cafes. Well, the Picola brand comes in strawberry and chocolate as well but I prefer the green tea. The green tea flavor is distinct in it's bold grassy, bitter taste and I can actually handle it!

I continue to search for green tea items that can be bought in stores and I also search for green tea recipes. I find it interesting to discover what is out there.

So, there you have it! I guess I conclude that at this point and time I am just not able to handle bare matcha tea. Perhaps it's something I can work up to, perhaps not. I have come to find that I truly do enjoy variations of the green tea flavor.

I'm not quite sure why it is that green tea has become such a phenomenon. I suppose it is partially due to the fact that green tea is rich in antioxidants.

According to webmd

Green tea's antioxidants, called catechins, scavenge for free radicals that can damage DNA and contribute to cancer, blood clots, and atherosclerosis. Grapes and berries, red wine, and dark chocolate also have potent antioxidants.

Because of green tea's minimal processing -- its leaves are withered and steamed, not fermented like black and oolong teas -- green tea's unique catechins, especially epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), are more concentrated.

But there's still a question of how much green tea you need to drink to reap its health benefits. EGCG is not readily "available" to the body; in other words, EGCG is not always fully used by the body.

According to Green Tea Earth

One of the major things that recent studies have revealed is that EGCG reduces carcinogenesis. In other words, it prevents cancer. This is because the antioxidants neutralize free-radicals, which cause cancer. Many different types of cancer can be helped. For example, cancers of the esophagus, lungs, prostate, stomach, and others. For more on the specifics of how antioxidants prevent cancer, take a look at the article below on antioxidants.

It is also said green tea can build impaired immune systems up. A compound called Theanine is present in green tea. This compound can boost the ability of 'gamma delta T cells' to fight infections. A 'gamma delta T cell' is a type of white blood cell, which is the bodies main first line of defense. By strengthening the white blood cells, Theanine is basically better equipping the infantry of the body to fight against hostile forces.

Another thing green tea is said to do is speed up metabolism. Some say it is good to drink green tea after a meal to help break down food more effectively. Metabolism divided into two parts; catabolism and anabolism. Catabolism is the process that creates energy, and anabolism uses energy to complete tasks such as building cells. When your body breaks down food, certain damaging chemicals are produced; things such as hydrogen peroxide. To fight this, your body has a complicated set of enzymes to detoxify these chemicals. As you may have guessed, antioxidants can help to boost this process greatly. When the antioxidants mop up these chemicals, more of the enzymes can concentrate on breaking down food for energy, thus speeding catabolism (and thus metabolism).

So, like Webmd said, it is not known how much green tea must be consumed in order to get the best benefits. Also, I think it's obvious and safe to say that green tea in ice cream or other sweetened foods is not the best way to take in green tea for the health benefits.

Well, I don't think green tea is going anywhere soon and that makes me happy. So, here's to green tea! I think I'll have myself a cup.