About Green Tea


Best-Known Green Teas

Gunpowder Presented as small, round, yellow-green pellets, the tea leaves are hand-rolled to resemble their namesake. This earthy Chinese tea was a favorite of frontier America and is still common in North Africa.

Sencha This is the most popular Japanese tea; however, the growing worldwide demand for Sencha has prompted Chinese gardens to produce it also. The long, flat, emerald-green leaves make a light, golden-yellow liquor with a distinct aroma and flavor reminiscent of freshly mown grass. Tea from the March to April harvest, now done mechanically, is preferred.

Chun Mee A young, early-spring, twisted-leaf Chinese tea, Chun Mee (or Chunmee) produces a golden-yellow infusion with a pungent aftertaste. Twelve chests of this tea variety (known by its East India Tea Company name, Hyson) were thrown overboard at the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773.

Lung Ching Originating in the Chinese town of Dragon Well, the best grade of Lung Ching (also spelled Longjing) is made of only the bud and one new leaf. It is not rolled but left in its natural pointed form. The clean, well-balanced aroma suggests freshly cut grass and toasted chestnuts.


Bruce Richardson is the owner of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas and the author of The New Tea Companion.

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