Green tea

Green tea (sencha, unoxidised tea) is tea from Camellia sinensis leaf that is heated right after plucking to stop oxidation. The leaf stays green and the liquor pale yellow or greenish. According to FAO, it is the world's second tea type by volume after black, averaging 2.31 million tonnes a year over 2020–2022.

The raw material is the same as for black tea: ISO 20715:2023 places both types under Camellia sinensis. EU Regulation 2022/2340 describes green tea as made from the leaf of this plant without fermentation.

The first minutes after plucking decide everything. Japanese makers fix the leaf with steam close to 100 °C, Chinese ones toss it in a pan heated to 300–350 °C. Heat switches off peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase, the enzymes behind Tea oxidation. Rolling comes next, then drying until the leaf is bone-dry. Fukamushi sencha is steamed two to three times longer than ordinary sencha, tamaryokucha is pan-fired. For tencha, the base of Matcha, the leaf is shaded for 20–30 days, steamed and dried without rolling.

China supplies 2.06 million of the 2.31 million tonnes of world green tea, almost nine tonnes in ten. The decade brought 4.9 % growth per year, and FAO projects 4.25 million tonnes by 2032. Japanese styles such as sencha, gyokuro, fukamushi sencha and tamaryokucha are described in detail by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF).

The taste is fresh, with roasted, nutty and marine notes, a little sweetness, umami and soft astringency. In the USDA database a 100 g serving of brewed green tea carries 12 mg of caffeine; scaled up, a 240 ml cup holds roughly 29 mg. Hotter water pulls out more bitterness and caffeine, and gyokuro, according to MAFF, has fewer bitter compounds but more caffeine.

Next to it, black tea brews darker and reddish-brown and, with 20 mg per 100 g, brings more caffeine. Oolong, partly oxidised, has 16 mg. Matcha is the same green tea in powder form. For a head-to-head view of the two, open Green tea or black tea.

Packs name the style (Sencha, Gunpowder, Genmaicha, Jasmine), and each of them appears in the UKTIA brewing chart. Supplements with green tea extract are a separate category: in the EU a daily portion must contain less than 800 mg of EGCG and the label must carry warnings. Ordinary brewed tea is not covered by this limit.

UKTIA suggests water at about 80 °C: sencha for 2–2.5 minutes, Gunpowder and Genmaicha for 3–4, Jasmine for 2–3. MAFF recommends 2–3 g of sencha per 100 ml, 70 °C for top grades and 90 °C for mid grades, for a minute and a half; the second infusion slightly hotter, for about 45 seconds. Soft water below 100 mg/l hardness is best.

Why this matters to you: the right temperature gives a gentler cup, and the figure of 12 mg per 100 g helps you keep track of caffeine over the day.