The 6 Best Green Tea That Is Delicious
Green tea, it’s the magic elixir that offers many amazing health benefits.
This green cup of life is also a great substitute for coffee drinkers who want a healthier pick-me-up and a more focused stimulant effect without the jitters.
Green tea comes in many different varieties and tastes. Everything matters from the way the tea leaves are processed to the way you make your green tea at home.
In this article, we will break down everything you need to know to choose the best green tea for your needs. Whether you want the healthiest, best tasting, purest organic, loose-leaf, or bagged we’ve got you covered!
See Our Top Picks
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TOP PICK
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Teabox All Natural Green Tea
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CHECK PRICE |
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Golden Moon Dragon Well Green Tea |
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CHECK PRICE |
All of the green teas in the chart above have been carefully picked. Let’s dive into a little more detail on these top green tea brands.
6 Best Green Teas (2022 Update)
Below is the list of best overall green teas:
1. Tea Box All Natural Green Tea
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About the Tea:
Teabox all natural green tea pack comes with over 10 healthy & delicious flavors. Including Ashwagandha, Mint, Jasmine, Organic Green, Chamomile, Dandelion and Detox Kahwa. The tea bags are super easy to prepare and make a great addition to your self-care routine.
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Type of Tea:
The tea pack consists 80 teabags, each representing a 100% bitterless and unique taste.
2. FGO Matcha Tea
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About the Tea:
This is a fine matcha green tea powder that can be used with a whisk or without a whisk. Simply mix into your glass of hot water and enjoy one of the finest powdered green teas around. Evergreen matcha is an exceptional brand that offers the best prices and the most high-grade matcha.
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Type of Tea:
This is a powdered form of green tea. Very easy to make and no steeping involved.
3. Tealyra Gyokuro Japanese Green Tea
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About the Tea:
Gyokuro green tea is one of the highest-quality types of Japanese green tea. This tea is shade-grown and is a green tea that is higher in caffeine and L-theanine content. It tastes amazing and has a little hint of sweetness.
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Type of Tea:
This is a fine loose leaf tea. Loose teas often taste better and offer more beneficial health compounds than bagged teas.
4. Golden Moon Dragon Well Green Tea
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About the Tea:
This is a crisp and delicious green tea from China. You can’t go wrong with this exceptional tea if you’re looking for something excellent that isn’t too expensive.
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Type of Tea:
This is a fine loose leaf tea. Loose teas often taste better and offer more beneficial health compounds than bagged teas.
5. Capital Teas Jasmine Gold Dragon Green Tea
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About the Tea:
This is a simple Chinese green tea with Jasmine blossoms.
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Type of Tea:
This is a sachet bagged tea that is easy to make. All you have to do is plop it in your hot water and steep.
6. Numi Gunpowder Green
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About the Tea:
Gunpowder green tea is a rolled form of green tea with superior taste and quality.
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Type of Tea:
This is a bagged tea product. Simply steep your bag in hot water and enjoy it.
What Exactly is Green Tea?
If you’re going to choose a high-quality green tea product it’s important to understand what green tea is first.
All tea whether it’s green, white, black, oolong, matcha, or pu-erh is made from the same plant called the Camellia sinensis plant. This plant is an evergreen plant from Asia which
is now grown around the world. This plant grows best in sub-tropical climates with high altitudes and deep soil.
So when you hear the word “tea”, it means anything that comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. Any other kind of beverage not made from this plant is not really considered “tea”. Other products that are often referred to as “tea” like herbal teas are actually considered tisanes.
Tisanes include fruit teas, herbal teas, rooibos, chamomile, and other beverages that don’t come from the Camellia sinensis plant.
There are a few main components in all teas:
- Essential Oils– these are responsible for the tea’s flavor and smell
- Polyphenols– these are responsible for astringency in your mouth and many medicinal benefits
- Caffeine– provides the energy boost and is natural in tea, coffee, yerba mate, and chocolate
The difference between styles of tea like green, black, and white comes from the way these tea leaves are processed and oxidized.
Oxidation is responsible for determining these different categories and colors of tea. Oxidation is the process that occurs when oxygen interacts with enzymes inside the tea leaves turning them a different color.
You can think of this process like a brown or black banana. When you leave a banana exposed to oxygen for a long time it will turn black due to oxidation. This is the same process that is responsible for the different colors of teas!
In the case of green tea, the fresh tea leaves are not oxidized. In order to keep the leaves green, they apply heat during the rolling process. When processing, green tea leaves are rolled and made into different shapes which are responsible for the many different kinds of green teas.
So, in conclusion, green tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant which is heated to prevent oxidation, keeping the leaves a vibrant green color. It is then rolled and formed into many different tea leaf variations. Green tea is most popular in Asian countries like Japan and China.
Types of Green Tea
Japanese Green Tea
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Sencha
Sencha is one of the most popular types of Japanese green tea known for its delicate sweetness and mild astringency.
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Gyokuro
Gyouro green tea is a shade-grown version of green tea which is rich in caffeine and chlorophyll. It is one of the top-rated green teas in the world.
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Matcha
Matcha tea is a powdered green tea used from the whole tea leaves. This variation of Japanese green tea is used in traditional tea ceremonies.
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Genmaicha
This green tea is made from sencha or bencha leaves mixed with roasted brown rice kernels giving it a nutty flavor.
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Hoijicha
Hojicha is made roasting sencha over high heat turning the leaves brown. This type of green tea has less caffeine and tannins making it ideal for people who are sensitive to stimulants.
Chinese Green Tea
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Dragon Well (Long Jing)
This is the most famous green tea in China and one of the finest around. It has a gentle grassy flavor and pleasing aroma.
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Gunpowder Green Tea
This type of green tea has leaves that are rolled into small balls resembling bullets. It is known for its bold and smoky grassy flavor.
Flavored Green Tea
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Jasmine Green Tea
Combining jasmine flowers with green tea gives this blend a nice floral taste.
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Ginger Green Tea
Green tea can also be combined with other herbs and spices like ginger giving it additional medicinal benefits and a nice tangy kick.
Benefits of Green Tea
Green tea has many scientifically proven health benefits associated with it. It’s even said that in Japan they drink this beverage to prolong lifespan and improve quality of life.
Most of the positive health effects come from flavonoids (a type of polyphenol) including catechins and their derivatives. These catechins are what make green tea special. Green tea contains around 30% catechins due to the fact that the leaves are unoxidized. The most abundant catechin is EGCG which is thought to play a main role in its anticancer and antioxidant effects.1
Green tea also contains the amino acid L-theanine which is only found in tea plants. L-theanine works to stimulate alfa brain waves which calm the body and promote a state of relaxed alertness. 2
A few of the scientifically proven effects associated with green tea are:
- Antioxidants may lower the risk of cancer– green tea is an excellent source of antioxidants shown to reduce risk of cancer 5
- Improved brain function– the combination of caffeine and L-theanine has been shown to improve brain function 4
- Increases fat burning and physical performance– green tea has been shown to increase fat burning and improve metabolic rate 3
- Can improve dental health and bad breath– catechins in green tea can kill bacteria that cause bad breath and infection 1
But, like anything, in order to get these benefits, it’s important that you purchase a high-quality organic green tea product and prepare it rightly.
How to Make Green Tea
In order to produce the purest green tea, it’s important to prepare it perfectly.
The first order of business in preparing an amazing cup of green tea is purchasing high-
quality green tea leaves.
The brewing process is essentially extracting the different compounds from the green tea leaves to obtain the right balance of catechins with a yellowish-green color liquor. This color should be very light.
The 3 main factors in brewing any mug of green tea are the number of leaves used to water, the water temperature, and the steeping time. Keep in mind that green tea is usually only steeped for 1-3 minutes max.
Below is a simple process to make exceptional green tea:
- Get high-quality green tea leaves
- Measure about 1 teaspoon of green tea leaves per cup of water
- Insert the green tea leaves into your teapot or straining device
- Heat your water to about 175 degrees Fahrenheit
- Pour your cup of 175-degree water over your tea leaves
- Let the leaves steep for around 1-3 minutes (don’t overdo this)
- Pour out your tea into your glass or an alternate teapot
If you’re someone who wants more of the medicinal compounds and caffeine you can steep it for 3 minutes and even try using a little hotter water. If you just want the best tasting mug of green tea stick to the 175-degree water with 1-2 minute steeping time.
If you’re sensitive to caffeine and don’t want to zap yourself too much stick to the 160-175 degree water with 1-1.5 minute brewing time.
Be sure to check out our gut-friendly tea guide which has a video showing you exactly how to make green tea.
Bagged or Loose Leaf Green Tea?
If you’re wondering about purchasing bagged vs loose green tea it’s pretty simple. If you’re looking for the best quality green tea with the highest proportion of medicinal compounds loose tea is always the way to go. Whole leaf tea allows the tea leaves to expand when 
steeping getting the best flavor and highest amount of beneficial catechins.
Bagged tea is a different story. A lot of bagged teas usually contain the cheapest tea possible with the quickest processing methods. This means that the tea leaves are not going to contain as many beneficial compounds and may not produce the same unique flavors.
The green tea in tea bags is usually in the form of “tea dust” which is the smaller particles of tea leaves which are processed with lots of machinery.
The one benefit of tea bags is the convenience they offer. If you’re traveling or you just want to throw a bag into your cup and pour some water over it then using a tea bag is beneficial.
Besides, part of the fun of drinking tea is observing the tea leaves, perfecting your brewing method, and learning about the different types of tea plants. You can only do this with whole leaf teas!
Green Tea FAQ’s
How Much Caffeine Does Green Tea Contain?
In general, green tea usually contains around 30-55mg per 8 oz serving depending on the type.6
Most teas contain less caffeine than coffee, usually half the amount, around 30-70 mg compared to 140 mg. They are also going to provide a more relaxed buzz compared to the jittery buzz experienced with coffee. This is due to the amino acid L-theanine which is present in tea.
Green teas with relatively lower amounts of caffeine are hojicha, genmaicha, gunpowder, and kukicha. Those with the highest amounts of caffeine are gyokuro and matcha.
What is the Healthiest Type of Green Tea?
The healthiest kind of green tea is an organically grown product that contains high amounts of beneficial polyphenols, catechins, and nutrients. Telyra gyokuro or Golden Moon dragon well in the chart above are both brands with high-quality leaves.
Which Brand of Green Tea is the Best for Belly Fat & Weight Loss?
The best brand of green tea for belly fat and weight loss is one that contains higher amounts of caffeine and beneficial compounds. Gyokuro and matcha green teas have higher amounts of caffeine so they are good choices.
Which Brand of Green Tea Has the Most EGCG?
Any brand that contains organically grown green tea leaves will have high amounts of EGCG. It’s best to avoid bagged teas as these leaves are processed more.
What is The Best Japanese Green Tea?
The best Japanese green tea is gyokuro or matcha. Both of these types of teas contain powerful antioxidants and medicinal compounds.
What is The Best Time to Drink Green Tea?
The best time to drink green tea is in the morning, before a workout, or after lunch for afternoon alertness. It’s best to avoid drinking too much green tea before bed due to the light stimulant effects.
What Happens if You Drink Green Tea Every Day?
If you drink green tea everyday studies have shown that you may have a lower risk of cancer and a longer lifespan due to the powerful antioxidants and polyphenols in green tea.
