Finding a green tea you like

Our green teas are listed on the left hand side menu. We have teas from China, Japan, Taiwan and India, including scented and flavoured green teas. Our sample caddies are available for any tea, however we've put some green tea samplers together we think work well so, if you're not too sure, or are looking to give a gift, they might just be the solution you're looking for!

Tea - the amazing leaf

Whatever the kind, white, green, yellow, oolong or black, all tea comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. It is simply the way the plucked leaves are processed, that changes its character, chemical composition and appearance.

The discovery

Today, more tea is drunk around the world than any other beverage. Chinese legend suggests the recognition of its beneficial qualities all started when in 2737 BC, Emperor Shen Nung, a scholar and herbalist who drank only boiled water, was resting under a wild tea tree. A slight breeze caused the branches to stir and a few leaves to gently fall into a pot of simmering water he was preparing. The emperor found the resultant brew to be so deliciously refreshing and revitalising that ‘tea’ was ‘discovered’. Whilst it’s difficult to know if there is any truth in this legend, it is accepted that tea was popular in China around that time.

Green tea today

Green tea is one of the least processed teas. As a result, it retains high levels of antioxidants (polyphenols), often referred to as ECGC or catechins, and it is their abundance that provides us with some specific green tea health benefits - one of the more topical ones is of course green tea's ability to boost the metabolism and burn fat. Many regions produce green tea, however the more well known are from China and Japan. Naming of teas is quite different in China, often a tea can be known by several different names so it can sometimes be confusing. However,if you're looking for a particular tea and don't see it listed, let us know and if we don't have it in stock we'll try and source it for you.