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Green tea is the poster child for specialist tea. It is constantly being referred to in the media as the healthy alternative to other drinks and tea types. This is pretty lazy journalism actually. Yes, Green tea is very good for you but the idea that it is so much more healthy than other tea types is very simplistic and is mostly from test tube measurements of catechin antioxidant levels rather than in vivo studies.

To reduce Green tea down to its health benefits is very reductive and sells it as something that you 'should' drink rather than enjoy. The end result is that not enough people go out there to find delicious Green tea but instead purchase up awful quality tea bags and pat themselves on the back as they drink bitter brews for their health. I cannot count the amount of times that I have been told by someone that they don't like Green tea because it is bitter and seem to treat it as a medicine.

All the Teaheads out there know that good Green tea an absolute joy. Tasting the youthful verve of Spring leaves is one of the greatest pleasures and the health benefits are a happy extra.

Green tea is the oldest tea type (despite its media portrayal as a fresh faced alternative tea). It is produced using the youngest tea buds and leaves which are briefly withered before short but high heating to stop oxidation. If this heating process is done well then it will lock in all of the Spring fresh aromatics. Done badly and the heat will make the tea taste scorched, dull and maybe even smoky.

So, my advice is to throw out any cheap and bitter Green tea lurking in your cupboards which have been mentally filed as 'good for you' and go to seek out your favourite Green tea according to taste.

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