Green Tea

When I was first introduced to green tea, I didn’t favor it, primarily due to it not being prepared to its natural balance. What makes green tea delicate is the 1-3 minute steep in just before boiling water. I once hesitated to indulge in green tea because I prefer my tea strong in flavor, hence why I originally steeped green tea up to 7 – 10 minutes, and didn’t like the results. Green tea leaves are not oxidized like black tea leaves are, and you should never use boiling water as it will scorch the leaves and you’ll miss out on the teas full flavor. Once I understood the nature of green tea I gave it a proper chance to impress me. To my delight, I absolutely love green tea, especially blended with delicious flavors. 

There are about 14 types of green tea. I have chosen my three top favorites to use as the bases for our green tea blends. In our Swinomish Savory blend we use Sencha, a Japanese green tea, which is needle like in shape, dating back to the 17th century when first discovered. Our Washington Spring blend is a Hyson green tea, also known as Lucky Dragon. Hyson is a Chinese green tea that comes from the Anhui province of China. It is made from young leaves that are thinly rolled to have a long, twisted appearance that unfurls when brewed. Hyson means “flourishing spring,” and has a sweeter finish. Our Washington Summer blend and Emerald City blend have a pekoe Gunpowder green tea as their base. Gunpowder is a form of Chinese tea in which each leaf has been hand rolled into small round pellets giving the appearance of gunpowder. It is one of the stronger and bold flavors of the types of green teas.

Green tea is steamed then fired to stop the oxidation process as what makes black tea. The hand rolling of green teas are done after the steam process, and the firing locks in its characteristic flavors.  

I welcome you to try our green tea blends, especially if you had a first experience with green tea as I had. Green tea when properly prepared will surprise you with its delicate, yet bold flavors. Green tea makes a delicious, crisp, iced tea, sure to impress the palate and quench your thirst. For luxury, gourmet iced tea sure to impress! Just follow our brewing instructions for proper steeping times and chill.