Do you drink green tea? Please tell me about it.

[DontCallMeShitley]

Having made several attempts to like the stuff and failing I think I may have found one that is disguised sufficiently to make it almost drinkable, a berry one.

I am trying to reduce my builders tea intake. It is very difficult. I have fruit infusions which I avoid drinking, and most green tea gets left in the cupboard and then given away.

I have a couple of questions:

I find plain green tea, the ginko version and matcha taste disgusting and the Pukka berries one is OK, is there anything else I might like?

How much to drink in a day as I don't want to cause a different set of problems to the ones I am trying to resolve?

Why are you trying to reduce your tea in take?

You don't let green tea steep for long. A couple of minutes max. It gets bitter when over steeped.

In my experience, the best way to make green tea non-bitter is to pour a bit of hot water (not totally boiling - leave it for a couple of minutes) over the teabag (enough to cover it), pour out and discard that water, and then pour in the normal amount of water to make your tea. I read that somewhere, and it works.

Green tea has less caffeine than builders', but still has some, so if it's caffeine that's causing you problems, you might be better off just drinking decaff builders' (or decaff Earl Grey etc). Or rooibos, which is quite nice with or without milk.

I thought it was quite bad for your liver?

Googled it. 800mg (whatever that is in ml or cups I don’t know) is the max before liver damage.

It’s an acquired taste so you have to gradually get used to it. Start with just showing the teabag or leaves to hot water and once you like it/ can drink it happily increase the steeping time.

I’ve tried with green tea but have come to the conclusion I don’t like it and tend to stick to weakish black tea and earl grey and strong mint and fennel, and also just hot water. Have recently discovered hibiscus and love it. It’s great for lowering blood pressure.

Agree with PP, only 2 or 3 minutes max for green tea. I drink green tea with lemon. It masks the bitterness a little bit.

I've gotten into making matcha lattes now with almond milk. (or I did, until I realised how bad almond milk is for the environment!)

Try Pu'er tea. The first cup (if using Chinese cup otherwise first big swig) tastes slightly muddy but the second and subsequent cup is delicious and moreish as your palate adapts.
If you buy the fermented compressed cake you need to rinse the leaves with boiling water and run that off before you make it.
High in antioxidants, lower in caffeine and tannins than green or black.
I'm a complete convert.

Depends which green tea- Chinese leaf tastes completely different to Japanese.

I keep trying to like green tea but so far no luck. I do however enjoy herbal teas.

Maybe try peppermint, chamomile or jasmine? I believe all are caffeine free.

2-3 mins max brewing time & a really good quality green tea. I actually really like the Pukka range, green tea with mint is my personal favourite but you can buy a mixed green tea pack of flavours.

Maybe look at other types as well? ginger tea rather than fruit infusions or licorice is nice & sweet

Thank you for all the replies, I will go back and read them all again thoroughly.

Ginger, love crystallised ginger and ginger nuts but the smell of ginger tea makes me heave. Ditto with chamomile.

I do like a fruity infusion, berry ones and am planning to dig out what is in the cupboard and force myself to drink it but wanted to try out the health aspects of green tea. It would be good to find something palatable and healthy at the same time and I will bear in mind starting out weak and increasing steeping time.

I drink far too much tea, de-caff is revolting as it tastes chemically, have tried every brand and it is baaad, I assume it is the process they use. I sometimes make it weaker but it doesn't feel as if I am doing anything any healthier.

I have also tried white tea, and failed.

I read that 3 - 5 cups of green tea per days is OK but am a bit wary of how it would affect me.

Is Chinese milder than Japanese? Are the tea bags not good and I should be looking for something else?

You do have to get used to it, I drink white tea which I find doesn't have a butter tea. And pur matcha powder, it tasted like coriander to me at first and now it seems almost tasteless. It's very good for you as it's so high in antioxidants so stick with it while you can

Depends on there green tea. I buy Japanese sencha which doesn’t have the bitterness of other types. It’s lovely.

It's awful stuff.

5 cups per day?!

Double Dragon green tea (from H&B) is light and thirst-quenching and doesn't taste of dusty grass clippings

I drink Clipper White tea, it’s smoother than green tea

Aldi Green tea is nice, but as other people have said you must not leave it brewing too long. If your used to drinking builders tea its probably where you are going wrong! The longer you brew it the more bitter it gets.

I don't like plain green tea much but love jasmine tea - again don't brew it too long.

The difference in flavour of different green teas can be amazing, so sometimes you just have to try lots to find one you like. White tea is easy entry and actually has more of the antioxidants that are in green tea because it is less processed (it is actually green tea but just the tips of the plant I believe?). It is also more expensive for that reason.

I think Twinings do a green tea with pomegranate and that is delicious. Kensington Tea Co does a green tea called Dragon Well that I love. I think you can get small sample packs from them...

Green tea is really good for you! Although some people get an upset tummy, that is caffeine so would apply to other caffeinated drinks. You would really have to go some to get liver damage, the instances of 'too much' would be predominantly from taking too much green tea supplement, not drinking it.

www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-green-tea-per-day#section3

I heard it can interfere with iron absorption.

I also am concerned about iron absorption from my builders tea so by drinking green tea I would drink less as I m not keen on it. However, I don't think that is going to work long term .

Don’t use boiling water!!

You want water about 70 degrees (around when it starts to gently bubble in the kettle)

Only brew for 2 minutes max

That stops the more bitter compounds dissolving

I use to drink green tea and you do get used to it...... eventually.

I switched to Red Tea, much more palatable

Lemon green tea is ok. I agree that plain green tea isn’t very nice.

I am beginning to think it is a waste of time, thank you for all the replies. I use a one cup water heater which heats, supposedly to boiling and I don't think I want to get the emergency kettle out of retirement so that I can drink something I don't like, at the correct temp , especially if it isn't going to improve my health noticeably. I appreciate all the replies, very much, you have helped me make the decision finally, not to bother except for a change, and it will be one that is flavoured with something I like.

Now, what is red tea like? Is it worth bothering with?