Chinese Green Tea versus Japanese and Indian
by Mohammad Arrabi
(Saudi Arabia)
What is the real difference in term of quality and taste between Chinese and Japanese green tea? Also, what does Chinese green tea compared to Indian green tea?
Answer:Mohammad, green tea is the same all over the world, but Chinese green tea has many advantages, especially if one is interested in a high grade.
The question is - what constitutes a high grade?
In both China and Japan, a high grade is cultivated from a low yield garden situated at high altitude, where harvesting only takes place in spring for about 6 weeks.
The remainder of the year, the tea plants are being rested, so that very little fertilizers and pesticides are being used.
This results in the tea being
- Naturally organic
- High potent - infuses 3 to 5 times
- Rich taste, with relaxing and refreshing effects on the body and the mind
If tea plants are being harvested 3-4 times a year, the quality will be much lower, There is also greater need to use fertilizer and pesticide.
Now, I believe low yield tea gardens only exist in very rarely in China and Japan, possibly South Korea.
They are non-existent in other countries, as they usually harvest their teas 3-4 seasons a year to cater for the bulk market.
Now, Chinese tea differs from Japanese tea in the following ways:
- Lower cost of production, greater value of money.
- Many more varieties, due to the long history of Chinese tea and the size of the country.
- Instead of the tea buds being fragmented and powdery, you get a wholesome tea buds. This is important as they are very pleasing to look at, and you get to learn how to assess the quality of the tea buds.
- Usually roasted and baked, rather steamed. The tea liquor is light yellow, rather than green.
In summary, if you buy from a good online tea shop, you are much more likely to get high quality tea buds from China than any other countries.
However, if you prefer tea with a stronger taste that are less delicate, than whether it is a high grade Chinese green tea or not will probably not be so important.
I hope this helps.
Julian
