Green tea is becoming more and more popular among health enthusiasts for its many health benefits and soothing effects. In Asian cultures, green tea has a long and rich history. Despite its popularity, green tea isn’t necessarily known for its taste. Many people find it hard to drink because of its bitter, unpleasant taste.
You can make green tea taste good by adding ingredients like honey, mint, and other herbs. Opt for high-quality loose leaves over tea bags, and ensure your tea is steeped correctly at 160-180°F for 3-4 minutes. This results in a cup that has not released its polyphenols too fast or scalded the tea.
If you have been trying to get into the habit of drinking more green tea but are struggling to enjoy the taste, we are here to help. We know some great tips that will transform those bitter flavors. Try implementing these pointers and become a pro at brewing a truly delicious cup of green tea.
How To Make Your Tea Tasty
It’s clear that green tea can be a great addition to a healthy diet. Here are our tips on making green tea a little bit more palatable and easier to drink.
The first step in making an enjoyable cup of green tea is to learn how to brew the tea correctly. Many assume that throwing a teabag in a mug of boiling water is all that it takes. Over-brewed or under-brewed tea can result in an unpleasant taste. The temperature of the water also makes a big difference in the taste of the final product.
1. Use The Right Water Temperature
Many people assume that throwing a teabag in a mug of boiling water is all they need to do to make a good cup of tea. However, an over-brewed or under-brewed tea can result in an unpleasant taste, especially if brewing green tea.
To ensure a great cup, start by perfecting your water temperature. Water that has reached boiling point is usually too hot for brewing green tea. When the water is boiling, the tea will taste bitter and astringent.
However, if the water is too cold, you will not get much flavor from the tea leaves. We recommend aiming for water that is between 160 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit. If you use a kettle, boil the water, then let it cool for 3-4 minutes before steeping.
2. Time Your Brewing
Once you’ve combined the water with the leaves, you will need to brew the tea for a specific amount of time. Green tea is very delicate, and brewing time will determine the flavor strength. A brewing time of 2-3 minutes is usually ideal. Try tasting the beverage after 2 minutes. If the taste is too weak, allow it to brew for another 30 seconds. Keep testing your tea and note the exact time when you enjoy the taste most.
Don’t worry; you don’t need to do this every time just once as you familiarize yourself with the brand.
3. Use High-Quality Leaves
We recommend using tea leaves rather than tea bags as loose tea leaves can breathe in the air, resulting in a more authentic, rounded taste.
Tea is best when it can absorb water effectively and expand in your drink. Allowing the water to flow through the leaves fully means you can get the most nutrients and minerals from it. Teabags often disrupt that process making your drink less healthy.
Teabags are mostly made of smaller particles like dust and fannings. Even where the tea bags have whole leaves, the size of the bags limits the infusion. Teabags are also often machine-processed in a factory somewhere where they store them in bulk for an extended period.
When using loose tea leaves, be sure to measure them carefully. The best ratio tends to be 2 grams of leaves for every 6 ounces of water. The more leaves used, the stronger the taste of the final product.
Here are some loose tea leaf brands we recommend.
FullChea Chinese Green Tea Loose Leaf
This Longjing tea is hand-produced, and the whole fresh leaves you find in the pack enrich your green tea experience. The richness of the leaves lingers even after a couple of steepings, allowing you to brew the same tea leaves at least thrice. Light, refreshing, and delicately flavored, this tea is great if you wish to have a wholesome and pure green tea experience.
Oriarm Chinese Loose Leaf Tea with Jasmine Flowers
If you prefer a subtle floral aroma for your tea drinking experience, this product is just right with its jasmine overtones. Since the floral flavor is subtle, it improves the richness of the green tea without overwhelming it. You can also buy according to the grading of your choice – different grades have different scenting techniques.
Tiesta Green Tea Loose Leaf – Fruity Paradise
This product is excellent for those who love to mask the flavor of their green tea with other ingredients as this particular tea is heavily flavored. The fruity notes disguise the bitter overtones of the greens and add a refreshing twist to your brew. And this one also has special “Slenderizer” properties that help you lose weight the healthy way.
4. Try Cold Brewing
Cold brewing is a little-known technique that will remove most of the bitterness from your
Cold brewing is a technique that will remove most of the bitterness from your green tea. However, this method takes between 8 and 16 hours, so it requires some planning. Cold brewing is a wonderful way to make tasty iced tea.
Cold brewing is a method of steeping tea leaves or coffee beans in cold water instead of using heat. We brew tea leaves to get the flavor and nutrients from their leaves and infuse it with our water to make an excellent cup of tea. Adding water functions as a way to dissolve the volatile compounds in the leaves. These compounds include aroma, flavors, nutrients, and caffeine.
A hot brew method dissolves the volatile compounds of tea much quicker. This quick brewing process exposes the tea’s astringency and bitterness. In comparison, the slow infusion in cold brew helps bring out the aroma, flavors, and nutrients at a gentler pace. The larger compounds that make up the bitter flavor and caffeine are extracted last and at a lesser rate.
By cold brewing your tea, you do not only get a tastier tea, but you also get the full extent of its health benefits.
5. Try Adding Ingredients For Flavor
If a carefully brewed cup of tea still doesn’t live up to your taste expectations, try experimenting with different add-ons. Here are a few of our favorites.
- Lemon or Lime Juice: Adding citrus flavors to green tea can counteract the bitterness of the beverage. It can add to the health benefits of your tea. Adding lemon can help your body absorb catechins, powerful antioxidants found in green tea.
- Honey: Honey is often added to various types of tea as a natural sweetener. Keep in mind, honey is still sugar and it is recommended to limit added sugar in your diet.
- Dried Fruit: Many find that dried fruit can provide a subtle sweetness to green tea to help balance the bitterness. You may find pre-mixed loose tea leaves, or try adding dried fruit yourself. Just about any type of fruit can be used, including apples, berries, and oranges.
- Flower Petals: You may think that adding flower petals is a little unusual, but many find that petals can offset the bitter taste. Try rose petals for a classic option. Adding rose petals to your tea will help to boost the benefits of green tea by increasing the anti-inflammatory properties already in the drink.
- Ginger: This is one of those well-loved ingredients that seems to go with just about everything. Adding ginger to green tea will give the beverage a spicy, refreshing taste.
- Mint leaves: These are a great way to freshen up a cup of bitter green tea. Just a few leaves will transform the taste into something fun and festive. Mint also has several therapeutic qualities. Adding mint may help to treat nausea, diarrhea, indigestion, and stress.
Why Green Tea Is Worth Adding To Your Routine
As you search for improving the taste of your cup of green tea, you probably understand how beneficial it can be to health. However, as a refresher, green tea provides superior benefits to sodas or even water. Here are just a few of its health benefits that makes green tea worth the trouble
- Reduce Inflammation: Green tea contains polyphenols, which have been shown to reduce inflammation. This makes it a great beverage for tackling illness or inflammatory diseases.
- Improve Brain Function: Green tea contains a somewhat controversial ingredient – caffeine. Unlike coffee, which contains excessive amounts of caffeine, the level of caffeine found in green tea are well-balanced to improve brain function without causing those infamous caffeine jitters. The amount of caffeine in green tea can improve your mood, reaction time, and memory function.
- Increase Fat Burning: Green tea may have fat-burning properties. Studies have shown that this type of tea can boost your metabolic rate, making it a wonderful companion to a workout regimen, especially if your goal is weight loss.
- May Lower Risk of Cancer: Antioxidants in green tea are said to lower your risk of certain types of cancer. Studies have shown that green tea’s antioxidants may lower the risk of cancers such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer.
- Good For Oral Health: Green tea contains catechins that have the ability to kill bacteria such as the bacteria that causes plaque buildup in the mouth. By inhibiting these bacteria, green tea can contribute to improved dental health.
Final Thoughts
We hope this guide to green tea has encouraged you to give it a try. Many people initially find the taste of green tea too strong or bitter. Perfecting your brewing technique and adding some carefully selected ingredients, you’ll soon find that a cup of green tea has become one of your favorite beverages!
