Where To Buy Green Tea Leaves

Best Organic: Buddha Teas Organic Sencha Green Tea

• Available in loose leaf too

• Boxes made from recycled material

• Steeping instructions on box

• Tea bags tear easily

• Mild flavor

There are lots of organic teas out there, but the Buddha Tea Organic Sencha Green Tea earned the spot of our best organic green tea for several reasons. The delicate and fresh taste is one of the big ones, of course, but its also a flavonoid-rich tea made without additives or artificial colors.

Like many organic tea manufacturers, Buddha Teas uses 100 percent organic green tea leaves to create this item, but the brand takes it a step further by using bleach-free tea bags. As an added bonus, the brand’s boxes are made from recycled materials.

Form: Tea bags and loose leaf | Caffeine: 30 milligrams | Steep Time: 3 to 5 minutes | Ingredients: Organic green tea

• White tea blend to avoid bitterness

• Mild flavor

• No strings on tea bags

When it comes to caffeinated beverages, green tea is fairly low on the list. An 8-ounce cup contains about 30 milligrams of caffeine. For comparison, the same size cup of coffee packs in 95 milligrams, while black tea hovers around 50 milligrams. But even though theres not a lot of caffeine in green tea to start with, you may still be looking for a decaffeinated green tea. Thats where the Celestial Seasonings Decaf Green Tea comes in.

Form: Tea bags and K-Cups | Caffeine: 0 milligrams | Steep Time: 2 minutes | Ingredients: Decaffeinated green tea, decaffeinated white tea, and ascorbic acid

Why Trust The Spruce Eats

Lindsay Boyers is a certified holistic nutritionist with extensive food and drink-testing experience. Shes developed over 1,000 original recipes and is constantly on a mission to find the best options across all food and beverage categories.

This piece was edited by Derek Rose, the coffee and tea expert for The Spruce Eats. He researches a variety of products, from tiny tea infusers to high-end kettles, and interviews field experts for their insight. He is especially a fan of matcha, enjoying it in everything from lattes and smoothies to the traditional form.

Shunan Teng is the founder and CEO of Tea Drunk and an avid tea educator. Tea Drunk was founded in 2013 and has a brick-and-mortar tea house in New York City. Its teaware and Chinese teas can be purchased online.

Best Loose Leaf: Thrive Market Organic Darjeeling Green Loose Leaf Tea

• Distinct but not overpowering taste

• Ethically sourced

• Available in just one size

• Only sold by Thrive Market

If you prefer loose-leaf green tea over bagged options, Thrive Markets Organic Darjeeling Green Loose Leaf Tea is our top pick. Not only is the tea organic, but the leaves are handpicked and ethically sourced from local farmers, so each package helps support small communities in the Himalayas, from where the tea is harvested. And since the only ingredient is organic Darjeeling green tea leaves, the natural floral sweetness and smooth finish really shine through with each brewed cup.

Form: Loose leaf | Caffeine: 20 milligrams | Steep Time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds | Ingredients: Organic Darjeeling green tea leaves

“The number one thing to improve tea at home is to stop covering it. This is essential for green and yellow teas. For other kinds, if the tea isn’t very good quality then leaving it open will increase the taste.” Shunan Teng, Founder and CEO of Tea Drunk

One way to brew tea openly is by using a fairness pitcher , which is common in Gong Fu brewinga traditional Chinese style of tea preparation.

Don’t Miss: Hibiscus Tea For Sleep

The Best Green Tea Is Green

Unlike black tea, green tea does not undergo the oxidation process that causes the green tea leaves to turn brown. Because this step is carefully skipped in green leaf tea manufacturing, the clorophyll remains in the the tea leaves, which is what makes green tea green. This also makes green tea the most natural form of tea with the maximum natural antioxidants intact in the tea leaves.

Fine Quality Green Tea Leaves Before and After Brewing

So, when you brew a fine quality green tea, the tea in your cup will be still green. It is olive green in most cases. Moreover, if you see the brewed tea leaves carefully, you will see all of them will turn back to the original green color after brewing. However, if the green tea was not processed carefully, some of the tea leaves will turn brown or black after brewing. This is an important point you should always check in the green tea that you buy.

Where To Buy Green Tea Leaves Online

Loose leaf green tea is far better than tea bags.

But you want to make sure you get high quality leaves.

Buying green tea online makes the most sense for those of us who dont live near a quality tea shop. But given the huge number of vendors online, it isnt always easy to find a good one.

How do you know which ones are good and which ones are bad ?

The best way to tell, is to order a small sample and see for yourself.

But who wants to order samples from hundreds of online tea shops?

Thats why I wrote this article. I did the research and have found the best places to buy green tea leaves online.

Not only do I share the best stores, but I also give you the best green teas to buy from those stores. And yes, they are all available in sample sizes, too.

Don’t Miss: Twisted Iced Tea Ingredients

How To Brew Green Tea That Tastes Great

The enjoyment of drinking green tea begins with selecting quality leaves, but execution is essential. Green tea must be brewed with a focus on water temperature and steeping time to avoid bitter flavors. Whether you want to make iced green tea or a hot cuppa, follow these guidelines to achieve delicious results every time.

Green tea is a delicate tea that should not be brewed with boiling water. Instead, use hot water between 150 to 180 F. Japanese green teas, especially Gyokuro, should be brewed at the lower end of the temperature spectrum.

Always use hot water even when brewing iced tea since cold water doesn’t develop flavor well. Green tea leaves should steep for 30 seconds to 1 minute at most to avoid developing bitter flavors.

Always use high quality leaves and pure, spring, or filtered water. Tap water contains chemicals and additives that can alter the flavor of green tea. Use only USDA certified organic green tea or non-GMO blends whenever possible to avoid low quality leaves.

In general, use one teaspoon or 5 grams of tea leaves for every 8-ounce cup of water. If you prefer stronger flavor, add more tea leaves. Avoid the temptation of steeping tea longer to increase flavor longer steeping usually just damages the flavor profile.

Don’t be afraid to experiment to find what works for you. It may take a few tries to get it right, but you’ll be glad you did.

Check The Origin Of Your Green Tea

Whether you buy green tea online or from local grocery shop, you should always find out the origin of the green tea. Most of the store keepers will stock green teas which are cheap or which provide them good margins.

Check The Source Of Your Green Tea Carefully

Find out more on how the tea is grown and processed. Always insist on genuine quality green tea made from organically grown tea leaves only. Moreover, it is always better to buy closest from the source. With eCommerce becoming so prevalent nowadays more and more producers are selling their green teas through online portals to reach their customer base directly. It will be always worthwhile to spend some time to find out more about the producer and their manufacturing practices and directly buy from genuine organic tea growers as far as possible.

Also Check: Is Gold Peak Green Tea Good For You

The Best Green Tea To Buy

Eisais Choice Sencha from Art of Tea

Ill begin with, my favorite online tea purchase. If you love the taste of Green Tea, youll want a sencha. This Japanese Green Tea has the quintessential Green Tea flavor: grassy, crisp and clear. The best value Ive found is Eisais Choice Sencha from Art of Tea. The leaves are high quality, but the price is very reasonable, with a sample tin costing $5 and an 8 oz. pouch going for $40.

If you prefer the slightly milder Chinese Green teas, Id definitely go with a Dragon Well tea. It is the classic Chinese tea with a gentle, mellow flavor. Once again, Art of Tea has the best value with their organic Dragon Well. At the time of writing, this tea was sold out, so I was not able to check on the current prices. You can expect to pay a bit less that you would for the Sencha.

This is actually the main problem with any good Dragon Well tea. The Longjing region in the West Lake area of Hangzhou is very small, meaning that the years harvest sells out quickly and once any store has sold all its stock, they wont be able to replenish it until the next year. You can still find a lot of cheaper Dragon Well, but it will come from other regions and thus not be a true Dragon Well, even if it carries the name.

Best For Travel: Pique Tea Organic Jasmine Green Tea

• Can make hot or iced tea

• Expensive per serving

• Designed for small servings

Pique is an innovator in the tea world, creating travel-friendly tea crystals that are soluble in both hot and cold water. Each box of Organic Jasmine Green Tea contains 14 individual packets that you can mix with hot water or pour right into bottled water and shake for iced tea, making it ideal for anyone consistently on the go.

So, what exactly are tea crystals? Pique’s unique innovation takes loose-leaf tea and brews it in low-temperature water for eight hours until it becomes a fast-dissolving powder. The brand says its gentle extraction process creates a sort of tea concentrate that preserves up to 12 times more antioxidants than comparable tea brands. Its not just convenient, though. The Organic Jasmine Green Tea has a fresh flavor that makes each sip smooth and enjoyable.

Form: Tea crystals | Caffeine: 22 to 33 milligrams | Steep Time: N/A | Ingredients: Organic green tea and spearmint

“Mistakes with brewing tea usually involve time, temperature, or water-to-tea ratio. This means brewing for too long or too short using an incorrect temperature or using too much or too little tea. Being mindful of all three factors will help people develop their tea-brewing techniques.” Shunan Teng

Don’t Miss: Iaso Detox Tea While Pregnant

The Best Green Teas To Buy Overall

Ill begin with, my favorite online tea purchase.

If you love the taste of green tea, youll want a sencha. This Japanese green tea has the quintessential green tea flavor: grassy, crisp and clear.

The best value Ive found is Eisais Choice Sencha from Art of Tea.

The leaves are high quality, but the price is very reasonable, with a sample tin costing $5 and an 8 oz. pouch going for $63, or 50 cents a cup .

If you prefer the slightly milder Chinese green teas, Id definitely go with a Dragon Well. It is the classic Chinese tea with a gentle, mellow flavor.

Once again, Art of Tea has the best value with their organic Dragon Well.

It costs a bit less than the sencha above, with an 8 ounce tin going for $52. The sample pack is also $5.

One big problem with this tea, and any other good Dragon Well tea, is availability.

The Longjing region in the West Lake area of Hangzhou is very small, meaning that the years harvest sells out quickly. And once a store has sold all its stock, they wont be able to replenish it until the next year.

You can still find a lot of cheaper Dragon Well, but it will come from other regions and thus not be a true Dragon Well, even if it carries the name.

Teavivre has a good alternative if Art of Teas is sold out. Actually, make that a great alternative.

Their Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Longjing is the best Dragon Well youll find outside of China. Naturally, it is also much more expensive, costing over $80 for 200 grams of leaves.

Heavenly Tea Leaves Variety Pack

Most people are used to only a small selection of teas, primarily green and black. But there are so many varieties around the world all with different flavor profiles and aromas. This pack of nine different types allows you to get a rich sampling that goes beyond standard supermarket fair, each one with about ten servings. Some of the more exotic options included are white tea, herbal tisane tea and rooibos herbal tisane tea. The entire selection is packed in environmentally friendly packaging that also makes for a lovely housewarming or holiday present.

Courtesy of Amazon

Don’t Miss: Twisted Tea Bottle Calories

What Are The Characteristics Of The Best Green Tea

The best green teas are the fresh teas. Premium green teas are highly sensitive to its environment such as high temperature and foreign odours. Once they are exposed to unsatisfactory conditions, their quality deteriorates rapidly and manifest changes in their appearance, aroma, taste and benefits.

Valley Green Tea supplies premium quality seasonal green teas sourced directly from growers and plantations in traditional tea producing regions of China, stored optimaly after harvest for fast delivery in Australia and world wide.

We take extra cautions with their:

• packaging – we vacuum seal all our green teas
• storage – we store our green teas under their optimal storage temperature which is under 5oC
• transportation – we air transport our green teas from China to avoid unnecessary exposure to high temperature and other un-welcomed factors

We believe the quality of the green teas we supply is second to none on the currently market outside of China.

What To Consider When Purchasing Green Tea Leaf

Purchasing green tea leaf online is convenient but not that easy to decide where to buy and what kind or type or style of green tea leaf to choose. You may know a little or completely never hear of the green tea leaf before the purchase. So there will be many questions you have. Including what is it? why its so popular? how to choose from the different suppliers or brands? No matter you prepare to buy green tea leaf for boys or girls, kids or adults because you have to spend money, you are worthy to get a satisfied green tea leaf.

Therefore, it is here to list you the high-quality, the most welcoming, the latest version of green tea leaf to pick and purchase. We have done adequate research on the Internet then checking & picking qualified green tea leaf to put into our selection. If you are wondering why we recommend these green tea leaf, the reason is here.

If you dont know what kind of green tea leaf suits you best, dont worry. You can find the best recommendations here. The blog lists the selection of green tea leaf to everyone reading this post, so you can pick a suitable green tea leaf for your own need.

Recommended Reading: How To Make Milk Tea Without Boba

Conventional Green Tea Bags Are Not Best In Quality

You should try to avoid green teas in normal tea bags even though they are cheap and convenient, since they are not the best in quality. These tea bags normally contain fannings or dusts, which are broken or small pieces of tea leaves treated as rejects of the manufacturing process while making high quality loose leaf tea grades.

Whole Leaf Vs Conventional Green Tea Bags

The essential oils evaporates from the these fragmented tea leaves during the manufacturing process of these teas. That is the reason you dont get the full flavour, taste and the health benefits when you use tea bags to brew your green tea.

These low quality teas have gained popularity in the developing countries, particularly because they are cheap and also convenient to put in normal tea bags. Of Course, tea dusts produce a very strong brew – consequently more cups are obtained per measure of tea dust.

Unfortunately, tea dusts lack the subtlety, smoothness and completeness of whole leaf teas. Also, filter papers which are commonly used in these tea bags may not be very safe since they are known to be associated with potential health hazards.

Collection: Loose Leaf Tea

Experience premium loose leaf tea with our handcrafted signature blends and single-estate full leaf teas. Our selection of organic leaf tea supports traditional harvesting methods and skilled tea masters while offering fresh flavor and natural health benefits. Whether you need a kick to get you going in the morning or just a small escape, theres a handcrafted tea here for you.

• Black Tea Club – Quarterly Box

  Regular price

• Boulder Blues Iced Tea Pouches $3.50 – $25.95
• Flat Belly Hibiscus Cucumber, Organic $4.00 – $44.95
• Flat Belly Hibiscus Cucumber, Organic Iced Tea Pouches $4.50 – $33.95
• Ginger Peach Iced Tea Pouches $3.50 – $29.95

Recommended Reading: Where To Buy Iaso Tea In Stores

The History Of Japanese Green Tea

The tradition of drinking tea in Japan came originally from China and dates back to the Tang Dynasty around 1500 years ago, although it may actually date back further.

Most modern Japanese tea plantations can be traced back to the 12th century when it was largely cultivated by Buddhist monks, and interestingly, the Matcha form of green tea was the most popular.

Nowadays, Japanese green tea is grown all over the country except in the colder, northern areas.

The Most Convenient Place To Buy Green Tea

Virtually everyone has an account on Amazon, making it a convenient place to buy tea.

The main problem is the extremely large selection. Its nice to have options, obviously, but most of those options just arent very good. It can be hard to find the quality offerings among all the junk, but they are there.

For sencha, the best option is the excellent organic Sencha from Rishi tea. It is reasonably priced and a far better tea than you would expect to get for the cost.

For Dragon Well, try this organic tea from Golden Moon which is another great value buy.

Good gyokuro is almost impossible to find on Amazon, but there are two worth getting: the Imperial Gyokuro from Chado is expensive, but very high quality and Ochas organic gyokuro is not quite as high quality, but still very good and considerably less expensive.

Also Check: Does Hibiscus Tea Help You Sleep