Green tea- quality difference?

dinneenp

Hi,

So I drink green tea, maybe 3 cups a day. In Aldi it's well under a euro, for branded versions about €3 or thereabouts. Is there any difference in the quality/pick of the tea? My gut is saying no.

Thanks,

Pa.

maninasia

There won't be since it's all poor quality tea in the first place.

maninasia

witchgirl26

I drink tea from a small tea company based in the UK & honestly since having their green tea versus supermarket green tea I've noticed a huge difference in taste quality. That said, I don't mind the supermarket ones & if you like them, keep on with them.

dinneenp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118916964#Comment_118916964

Not sure if you mean poor taste or poor quality; if poor quality, why?

maninasia

That's a really great question , and what is a great taste in particular can be very subjective, but I will try to explain below what I mean. I've studied how to make tea so I know a bit about it.

Because really good quality tea is usually hand picked from the tips of the tea plant at high altitude . The tips of the tea plant have less bitter compunds but packed full of polyphenols and theanine (one of chemicals that makes you feel calm) and caffeine (that gives you a little kick). The high altitude allows the leaves to grow slower and thicker. Will all be hand processed to avoid damaging the leaves.

Then the same tea grown at lower altitude will still be excellent but not the top grade.

The next level down will be machine cut whole tea leaves from a single harvest and hand processed .. Still far better than anything you will ever find in a supermarket

Then the next level down would be mass produced green tea mixed from various farms and highly automated but keeping whole leaves .

The the next level is highly processed and cut green tea into very small pieces for quick brewing (such as your Lyons or Barry's teabags).

And so on. Even more than coffee, tea plant varieties , how they are grown, where are grown and processed can give very different flavours. Simply put you will never get very high quality green tea from a supermarketmass market brand at that price level . I'm not saying it's not drinkable, and enjoyable taste can be subjective , it's just like the difference between table wine and fine wine,or instant coffee and fresh brewed Arabica.

In my opinion and those of many tea professionals , how to define good quality tea , is if you don't need to add sugar and it can brew for three- five minutes without being bitter, like good oolong tea, that could be a great tea. Because the tea grower and processor avoided introducing the bitter compounds into the tea leaves (which is why we need to add sugar and milk to poor quality black tea..It's too bitter otherwise ..Good quality tea is never instantly bitter).

Fine loose leaf tea is more expensive but I recommend you try all the different loose leaf teas out there it's amazing to discover the very diverse world of pure loose leaf tea leaves. There's actually 7 major types of tea and not just Green Tea and Black Tea as most people are familiar with . It's not as expensive hobby as you may think.

CrookedJack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118925905#Comment_118925905

Great post, very informative. The only thing missing is some recommendations for different teas and where to get them - You could be starting us all off on our new hobby!

WaveWatcher

For sumerparket green tea my prefrence is the Numi range or Robert Roberts if Numi's not available. I'm not a fan of the Aldi or twinings brands.

2011abc

Clearsprings organic Sencha loose leaf brewed in a basket . Water off the boil or you risk fishiness . ( Although boiling water will get the last bit of life from spent leaves if you’re a cheapskate like me . I sometimes ‘dilute’ this stuff with Aldi /Lidl cheap ‘powder bags’ . You can get 3-6 cups from a quarter full ( or less ?) basket .Cold green tea from the fridge is still my morning kickstart despite becoming a ‘coffee guy’. Better than water for hydration and detox .

maninasia

I live in one of the world greatest tea producing nations . As such I generally only drink local direct from the tea farmer and processor sourced tea, you could say it's single origin tea , from a spring , winter or summer harvest , so it's a bit hard to recommend for you. Loose leave teas from a shop or specialized vendor are almost always going to be the best. Go into the shop , and look at the tea, smell the tea (fresh loose leaf tea smells incredible ), and even ask the owner to brew a sample or send you samples . There's no need to buy a large amount of any one tea. Just try out different ones and have fun and see what you like.

Not a brand sold in a supermarket. Because the brand is trying to sell a mass market homogenised product that tastes the same every single time at a low price that consumers expect to buy for. That tea could have been harvested years before . Now there's some mid market brands that do what they do well , but they will never be as good as hand-picked hand processed single origin tea. And just like wine you'll get an exceptional tea one year and kind of mediocre the next due to the weather mostly. All tea growing regions have competitions where they select the finest teas of this year's season and variety.

I'm always happy to talk tea . In the future I may be able to share some back in Ireland. I would love if Irish people could start to discover the amazing world of tea out there. Most Irish people think Barry's tea is the be all and end all and it's just the tip of the iceberg. Or rather the over processed dusty remnants of assam tea leaves .😁

the beer revolu

In my limited experience, Gunpowder green tea from Asian shops tends to be nicer than the big brand green teabags.

ash97

I cant' find good tea lately too..