Green tea is the least processed of all true teas — harvested, heated, shaped, and dried with minimal intervention. (Tea Guardian) The goal is simple: stop oxidation early and preserve the leaf as close to its living state as possible. What you get is a tea that’s distinctly vegetal, fresh, and aromatic — and about as far from a supermarket teabag as it gets.
Key Characteristics
- 0–5% oxidized — essentially unoxidized
- Flavors range from grassy and vegetal to sweet, nutty, and umami-rich
- The most temperature-sensitive tea — water too hot and it turns harsh
- Short shelf life compared to other categories — freshness matters
- Processing method (steam vs. pan-fire) dramatically shapes the flavor
Production Process
The defining moment in green tea production is kill green (杀青 / shā qīng) — applying heat early to deactivate the enzymes responsible for oxidation. Everything else in the process is shaped around this step.
- Withering — Leaves are spread briefly after harvest to reduce moisture. Some producers skip this entirely.
- Kill Green 杀青 — Heat is applied to stop oxidation. In China, this is typically done by pan-firing (炒青) in a wok or rotating drum. In Japan, steaming (蒸青) is the standard. This single difference accounts for much of the flavor gap between Chinese and Japanese greens.
- Rolling & Shaping — Leaves are shaped while still pliable: twisted into needles, pressed flat, rolled into pellets, or left loose. Shape affects surface area and extraction speed.
- Drying — Final heat removes remaining moisture, sets the shape, and develops the tea’s aromatic profile. Some teas undergo multiple drying stages.
Styles
The most important divide in green tea is how kill green is achieved. Pan-fired Chinese greens (like Longjing 龙井 and Biluochun 碧螺春) develop toasty, chestnut, and sweet notes from the wok contact. Steamed Japanese greens (like Gyokuro 玉露 and Sencha 煎茶) come out more intensely vegetal, grassy, and umami-forward. Neither is superior — they’re genuinely different teas shaped by different traditions.
Shade-grown green teas (like Gyokuro and Matcha) are a category of their own — the lack of sunlight boosts chlorophyll and amino acids, producing a richer, sweeter, more umami-heavy cup with significantly reduced bitterness.
Notable Origins
Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Anhui (China) — Uji and Shizuoka (Japan) — Jeju (South Korea) — Nantou (Taiwan). China produces the widest variety by far, with thousands of named regional greens. Japan produces fewer styles but with extraordinary consistency and category depth.
Varieties We Cover
More coming soon.