Green tea has become an incredibly popular drink as its health benefits are now well known. Having said that, not all green teas are equal: some of the cheaper and/or lesser known green tea brands offer little of these supposed health benefits.
With that in mind, I’m going to take a brief look at the best green tea brands on the market today in terms of benefits and also taste (in my opinion, of course!).
At the end I’ll then nominate my choice of the single best green tea brand.
But first a quick explanation of what green tea actually is…
What is green tea?
Green tea, like all teas, comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant. This plant is an evergreen shrub, the leaves from which are used to make the tea.
The difference between green tea and other teas is simply in the way the leaves are treated. To make green tea, the withered leaves are either heated through steaming (for Japanese green tea) or pan-firing (for Chinese green tea). This stops the leaves from oxidizing and so they keep their green color and also their delicate flavor.
The leaves of green tea contain more antioxidants than other teas, and green tea has a range of health benefits including helping with weight loss, reducing cholesterol levels, helping to prevent heart disease and also helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Because green tea has so many antitoxins it also makes a great beauty product.
There is now a huge range of different teas available in the shops and online, but these are some of the most high quality green tea brands on the market…
The best green tea brands
Bigelow
The first contender for my best green tea brand is Bigelow. Founded in 1945 by Ruth Campbell Bigelow, they have been producing quality tea ever since and have gradually introduced more flavors and types of tea.
Bigelow now sell more than 50 types of tea and their green tea is undoubtedly one of the best brands of green tea on the market. Their green tea is certified 100% organic and it has a beautiful smooth and natural flavor that is very aromatic. In order to maintain their freshness, all the tea bags are individually wrapped.
Kirkland
This is a Japanese green tea that’s blended with matcha powder and really tastes great. It’s much greener in color than most other green teas and it’s also sweeter in taste.
Unlike a lot of other green teas it also doesn’t get bitter when it’s steeped for a long time. That said, you really don’t need to steep it for long at all for a hot brew, no more than 15-20 seconds.
You can also make cold tea with Kirkland green tea bags; simply steep them for five minutes or more in cold water.
Lipton
Lipton is another top brand. Their tea is 100% natural and has a delicious clean and refreshing taste. With no colorings and no preservatives, this is a very healthy green tea. I love its smooth, delicate flavor.
One word of warning though: it can be more bitter than some of the other teas discussed here, so if you don’t like your green tea to have a bitter taste you might prefer one of the other brands.
Tetley
Tetley is another producer of really high quality green tea. They’re a British company, founded in 1837 (so they’ve been around a while!) and are now the second biggest tea company in the world.
They provide a range of different green teas, including decaffeinated green tea and the standard Tetley green tea. They use only the best quality leaves and this makes sure their tea is a lovely tasting green tea with a very gentle and delicate flavor. It really is delicious and very refreshing!
Twinings
Twinings are another English tea manufacturer and distributor. They’re even older than Tetley having being founded as long ago as 1707.
Their green tea is a style of tea called Sencha which is renowned for being mild and smooth tasting. Twinings green tea is full of flavour and has a very soothing taste, and is very easy to drink.
Conclusion
In my opinion, the Tetley green tea is the best tasting and most refreshing. Tetley also produce a wide range of different teas, including decaffeinated green tea. For this reason, I personally consider Tetley to be the best green tea brand on the market.
Of course, that’s my own personal preference and your tastes may well differ from mine. I recommend you try all of the teas described in this article and then decide on your own favorite brand. And let me know in the comments below which you like best!
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