The Tea Journey: Two Green Teas

Welcome back to the Tea Journey and here we've taken an excursion away from tea bags into loose leaf green tea. I've been a little trepidatious about tasting green tea. It's the one tea I've always wanted to like for the health benefits, but I could never get on with the teabags my mum bought from the supermarket.After that experience I never quite believed that all the people espousing the amazing-ness of green tea could actually like it, or was there something wrong with me and my taste buds? I was keen to find out.Here I am trying two types of green tea by Jing Tea. The first is Organic Jade Green Sword, Jing's best-selling entry level green tea; the second is Dragon Well, China's most famous green tea.

The preparation

To make the loose leaf tea I used Jing's Tea Infuser, a glass mug with a glass infuser that sits in the top. Quite often loose leaf teas can be a bit too faffy for everyday use - you need a lot of equipment and it's very fiddly to clean the teapot out after use. The Tea Infuser is just as easy as making tea with a bag - spoon in the tea, pour over the water, wait 3 minutes, then lift the infuser out. Done!Green tea must not be made with boiling water as it will burn the leaves and make the tea taste bitter. If you haven't got a thermometer, I tend to leave the kettle about 10 minutes after boiling to let it cool down to 80 degrees.

The experience

In the infuser the tea colours slowly over the three minute infusion time to a vivid-yellow green, the leaves dancing as the water is poured in before settling nicely to stew. With the lid on the cups steams up, the flavours percolating and building , and when you remove the infuser both teas look like patches of freshly mown grass.Jade Green SwordAs I took my first sip, all my nervous fears were immediately allayed. I can totally see why this is the most popular and introductory green tea. It's bright and fresh and completely unexpected on the tongue; I expected it to be more powdery after my earlier experiences. It has citrus notes, like grapefruit or maybe a sharp green apple rather than being lemon-y.As bright and fruity as it is there's a richness that settles on the tongue that is almost like coffee; it's difficult to describe, it doesn't taste like coffee, but the sensations in the mouth, that 'settling' feeling is very similar to the sensations of coffee drinking.It is so refreshing and easy to drink that it's almost like a light cordial; it feels like a spring morning. Whereas the flavours of jasmine and peppermint matured and altered in the mouth, this is bright and zingy the whole way through.Dragon WellSo onto to Dragon Well with its bright green, long leaves. This is a very unexpected flavour. It has the same sort of brightness as Jade Sword, but as if it had been smoked. It has a much, much deeper flavour which is smoky and sophisticated; it feels more grown up, like the father compared to Jade Sword's busy pre-teen.There are still touches of fruit but they're in the background compared to the smokiness that dominates the mouth. While the flavour is deeper it is similar to Jade Sword in that it is still light and doesn't mellow or sophisticate on the tongue.I've said repeatedly here that Dragon Well has a 'smoked' flavour - to clarify, the tea hasn't actually been smoked, and the more sophisticated palates at Jing would call this nuttiness.The freshness is still undeniable, but it is a wintery freshness as opposed to the early summer vibes of Jade Green Sword. This is definitely a February drink.

The rituals

Green tea has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years, both to treat individual illnesses and also as a general health tonic. There are studies that show it can help to speed up the metabolism and reduce cholesterol. Tea was also used by Buddhist monks to achieve better results while meditating.I've always thought that green tea is as much a lifestyle choice as it is a beverage. Having tried it, it is certainly the perfect tea to sit with, to take time over and to feel revitalised with. Why not use it to aid meditation and mindfulness? On a quiet weekend afternoon I can't imagine much better. Jing have this short guide to tea meditation and I heartily recommend it. You can view all of Jing's green teas here - and if you're not sure which green tea is for you, they have lots of guides online to help too.*

Are you a green tea lover? What's your favourite variety?

*please note that these products were sent to me by Jing Tea to review - however, the words are all mine and from the heart.