Are you new to green tea? Or do you buy green tea regularly? Whatever your answer, have you ever wondered what makes green tea green?

Green tea is made from the leaves of the tea plant, Camellia Sinensis. Unlike black tea, the leaves used to make green tea do not undergo an oxidation process. Stopping oxidation is what makes the tea green. It also makes green tea taste very different from black or even oolong tea and enhances the health benefits of tea.

All green teas are made from leaves of the same main variety of tea plant, and regardless of how the finished tea looks or tastes, it is made from leaves that have been plucked, heated (dry heat or steam) to prevent oxidation, and dried. Subtle differences in the way these steps are carried out, the terroir in which the plants are grown, and the choices made by the tea producers during the making of the tea, result in a wide variety of different green teas.

Whether you seek to buy mild, sweet, subtle green teas such as the floral Jasmine Pearls, a stronger, more vegetal tea such as Sencha, or even the nutty notes of Genmaicha, green tea is a diverse category of tea with something for every palate.

In our magazine article “a beginners guide to green tea” we explain about green tea in more detail.