Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
I have never found good quality green tea bags and I have tried. This is one product that I think you really have to find in a Japanese store. I didn't even like the green teas that I tried from the Asian market (mostly Chinese).
Good green tea is very hard to find. I think I posted earlier that Glandeves has a very good white peony tea that reminded me of some of the very good Japanese green teas. That's the closest I have come other than getting it from Japan. And it too is a loose tea.
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Green tea is exceptionally vague, especially if you're comparing it with a white peony, which is a white tea. You can get greens that have all the grassy ("vegetal" in the circles) nature of a weak wulong, and you can get greens that have the flatter, rounder taste of white teas. You can get stuff with all sorts of different character too, depending on the cultivation method and location. Brewing method is variable too and has quite an impact on the result, as does the water. As a result, few people can give a very good assessment of green tea
quality overall, but rather their preferences given their abilities at brewing different varieties. I know people who were unwilling to try tamaryoku after disliking gyokuro, thinking that the more expensive gyokuro must be "superior". Even general "sencha" is incredibly varied, not just on a linear scale of quality.