How to Choose the Best Green Tea for You

Green tea is a healthy, tasty and relaxing drink, one that has less caffeine than coffee. It’s no wonder that green tea has become so popular.

But, how do you choose the best green tea?

There are so many different brands out there, along with individual types of green tea such as gunpowder green, matcha, sencha and many more.

In this post, we show you exactly how to choose, along with the best products that are out there. We also talk about the benefits of green tea and how you can get the most out of it.

What is Green Tea?

Like black tea, oolong tea and white tea, green tea is produced from the leaves of the species Camellia sinensis. With green tea, the leaves are heated soon after being picked – halting the oxidation process.

This production process gives green tea more nuanced and subtle flavors than other types of tea. It also tends to be low in caffeine, often between 10% and 30% the caffeine content of a cup of coffee.

These aspects make it a relaxing drink, one that can be consumed throughout the day.

The flavor nuances also mean that there are considerable taste differences between brands. This allows people to experiment with teas and find multiple ones that they enjoy.

What Makes Green Tea Special?

Green tea is cherished for many reasons. In fact, it’s a very popular choice.

One reason is the compounds. Green tea contains catechin polyphenols. These have strong antioxidant impacts and may promote health in a range of ways. A particularly important catechin is epigallocatechin gallate – or, as you may know it, EGCG.

EGCG is present in all types of tea but the concentration is highest in green tea (1).

Green tea also contains some caffeine and essential oils. The oils impact the aroma and taste of the tea.

Green Tea Benefits

Green tea is well-known as a safe and beneficial drink – one that can promote health in a variety of areas.

• Heart disease. Regular green tea consumption may decrease heart disease risk and the chance of dying from heart disease (2,3). The tea can also decrease total cholesterol levels (4), which may further decrease risk.
• Cancer prevention. Green tea could help prevent various types of cancer, including prostate cancer (5), lung cancer (6) and liver cancer (7). It may also reduce the risk of death from cancer (8).
• Diabetes. Drinking 3 or more cups of green tea per day may lower type 2 diabetes risk (9).
• Immune system. Green tea consumption may reduce the risk of getting the flu (10,11).
• Memory and cognitive improvements. Green tea consumption may protect against cognitive impairment and improve memory (12,13,14).

Green Tea and Weight Loss

Green tea is also associated with weight loss. In fact, green tea extract is common in weight loss supplements, like TruVision and AtraFen. Green tea also features in detox products like Fit Tea. Yet, evidence for weight loss benefits has been mixed.

• Any observed effects may be associated with the caffeine, as caffeine can suppress appetite (15). But, some studies have shown effects from decaffeinated green tea extract. This suggests the catechins in green tea are relevant too (16).
• In fact, many people talk about ECGC and weight loss. There is significant evidence for this role (17). Still, most studies have focused on green tea extract, rather than drinking green tea (18).
• Despite the potential, some studies have found no weight loss impact, even from large doses of caffeine-rich green tea extract (19).
• There may also be behavioral implications for weight loss. For example, green tea is very low in calories and takes time to consume. This may help people reduce their daily calorie intake.

There isn’t currently enough evidence to say whether drinking green tea promotes weight loss. But, the tea isn’t likely to hurt. If nothing else, the caffeine content and the behavioral implications may make it easier for you to lose weight.

Green tea brands might look the same, but they’re not. There are multiple potential issues, such as purity, whether there are any contaminants and the levels of beneficial compounds.

This means that it’s important to pay close attention to the products you choose. Key factors to look for include:

• Testing. Some products will be tested independently. Passing such testing is a key sign of quality and shows that the product lives up to its claims.
• Reviews. Customer experience is a strong indication of how good a product is. This also helps you determine how the tea tastes. Look for products with many reviews, where most of the reviews are positive.
• EGCG content. This won’t always be stated. But, a higher level of EGCG should mean additional health benefits.
• Ingredients. Pay attention to the ingredients. You want products that are as close to natural as they can be. If extra flavoring agents or sweeteners are added, make sure these are natural and healthy.

Tea Bags vs Loose Leaf

Tea lovers know that the best quality tea will always be loose leaf. This approach allows the tea leaves to expand, which gives you the most benefits and flavor from the tea.

You can also be more confident about tea leaves. After all, you see exactly what you’re getting.

On the other hand, bagged tea is variable. Some brands rely on cheap tea leaves. The tea is often more processed too, meaning you typically get smaller fragments of tea leaves.

Bagged tea can still offer benefits, especially if you are selective about the brand. Plus, the tea is convenient. That’s perfect for anyone who is traveling.

Top Green Tea Brands You Can Buy

These brands are all reliable, taste good and are easy to find.

The Best Bottled Green Tea

Brewing green tea yourself is always going to offer the most health benefits. But, bottled green tea is an interesting alternative for some situations.

Bottled versions still contain all the same beneficial compounds. They’re also portable and easy-to-consume. Even so, you need to be very careful about the products that you choose.

Many brands will add extra ingredients to make the tea taste sweeter and more interesting. They might also have additives or use chemical processing.

Thankfully, there are some good options, like the brand below.

How you make the tea plays a key role in your overall experience.

In fact, many people think they don’t like green tea, simply because they haven’t tried a well-brewed cup. Poorly brewed green tea often ends up tasting harsh, bitter or somewhat grassy.

Green tea shouldn’t taste like that. Instead, it tends to have subtle and enjoyable flavors.

Making Green Tea at Home

As a general rule, green tea is steeped at low temperatures for relatively short periods of time.

• 140°F to 180°F is a good goal. Alternatively, start with cold water and let it come close to boiling. If the water boils, you’ll need to let it cool – don’t make green tea with boiling water.
• Green tea typically steeps for between 1 and 3 minutes. You’ll need to play around with the steeping time, as this will vary.
• Tea with small leaves will infuse faster. Large leaves and pearls take longer.
• The Fragrant Leaf offers advice about temperatures and steeping times for specific types of green tea.

One good approach is to taste the tea once it has been steeping for a minute. Then taste it again every 30 seconds until you get a flavor you enjoy.

Using an Infuser

If you’re using loose leaf tea, look for an infuser that has plenty of space. The tea needs to unfurl to give you the most benefits. Small infusers don’t allow for this, which affects the quality of the finished drink.

Alternatively, you can infuse the tea in the cup or pot itself. Then use a strainer when it is time to serve.

Best Time to Drink Green Tea for Benefits

Green tea is a healthy drink, one that you can consume regularly. But, the time of day does make a difference.

• Green tea is particularly good first thing in the morning.
• You can also drink it after a meal. But, try to leave a gap of at least two hours between the meal and your tea. This helps ensure that the catechins don’t interact with animal proteins or milk casein.
• Avoid green tea in the evening if you’re sensitive to caffeine or find sleeping difficult.

Green Tea and Caffeine

People often ask about the caffeine in green tea.

First off, the tea isn’t caffeine-free. But, it does contain less caffeine than coffee (around half as much). The difference means you’ll still get a caffeine kick, it just won’t be as dramatic.

 Green tea also contains l-theanine. This amino acid helps to mellow out the impact of caffeine. That combination offers the advantages of caffeine, without the typical crash that caffeine often brings.   

Variation in Caffeine Content

Green tea is relatively low in caffeine. But, the caffeine content isn’t consistent.

Instead, it is influenced by various factors. The following are the most significant and apply to all types of tea.

• Steeping time. Tea that is steeped for longer will have more caffeine.
• Water temperature. Hotter water increases the caffeine content of the finished drink.
• Type of leaf. Older leaves typically contain less caffeine. The location of harvesting may also have an impact. So, caffeine content can vary between brands.
• Amount of tea. Using more tea leaves will increase the caffeine content.
• Size of tea leaves. Smaller leaves or chopped leaves have more surface area, which releases more caffeine. This often means that bagged tea will typically give more caffeine than tea leaves.

Our Top Pick

All of the brands in this article are great choices and many offer multiple individual teas to try. But, our favorite is Numi Organic Tea. We particularly like the way that there are both bagged and loose leaf options, so you can choose the style that works for you.

Plus, their Gunpowder Green tea uses the pearls style of tea leaf. This approach gives you the maximum flavor and makes the whole leaf tea very easy to brew.