Comments on: why is green tea so good in japanese restaurants, and not good in bagged green tea you can buy in stores?

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:53:59 +0000

Of course generic green tea bags don’t taste the same. Even if the quality of the leaves were as high as the quality used at a Japanese restaurant, which it’s not, generic bagged green tea comes from Sri Lanka or China or Vietnam or some country other than Japan. Japanese tea, because of the climate, the cultivars, and the processing, has a very different taste.

Some companies make Japanese tea teabags, which should taste much more like what you tasted in the restaurant. They would be available in fancy grocery stores like Whole Foods. Whole Foods would also carry loose-leaf Japanese tea, which you could buy more cheaply at a Japanese/Korean grocery store. Higher grades of Japanese tea are only available as loose-leaf.
You can even get a decent box of Japanese tea teabags from Costco – make sure you get the Kirkland Select Japanese green tea, which is made by a Japanese tea company.

A word of warning: Japanese green tea is fussy about its brewing. If you can read the directions on the back, follow them to the letter unless you know exactly what you are doing and why. Pouring boiling water on the wrong tea (i.e. about half of them) will yield an undrinkably bitter liquid, and so will steeping most Japanese teas longer than 60 seconds the first round.
References :

By: Steve From Georgia

Steve From Georgia — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:45:59 +0000

It may be a difference in type of tea. Most Japanese restaurants will use a high grade Green Tea, but some restaurants, particularly Chinese restaurants use a semi-fermented tea that I dislike. But if you’re sure it’s a true Green then it’s just a matter of the type and quality which vary greatly by type(example: Gunpowder tastes very different than Young Hyson or Dragonwell and there are major differences in different grades of Gunpowder alone). If you buy a tea just labeled "Green" just means a generic mix.
References :
Experience, Books on Tea( Signet Book of Tea and Coffee)

By: hernamewasSJ

hernamewasSJ — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:38:59 +0000

In order to make smiliar taste, you need to buy real tea leaves and brew them.
Bagged green tea ruins the taste tho it taste similar.
Brewing sounds kinda complicated but acutally its rather simple,
all you need is sieve and hot water
first you boil the water without leaves in it and then once the waters boiling, you put the leaves into sieve and pour the hot water over them and you’ll get a fresh green tea.
and putting the leaves in to your cup of tea is your preference but i’d rather not cuz you might eat them and they taste bad. haha

and i personally prefer korean green tea over japanese, cuz japanese tea leaves kinda taste more bitter.
So just go to japanese or korean grocery stores nearby and don’t buy american brand green tea cuz those are not likely the ones that japanese restaurant use. i think.
References :
asian sensation..lol

By: barbara v

barbara v — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:50:59 +0000

I think you answered your own question!!

You are trying tea bags, but the restaurant is serving loose tea.
Even if the teabags were the same brand, they wouldn’t be as good.

Do you have a Peet’s Coffee & Tea shop nearby? Try their brand. Excellent!

Or, next time you go to your favorite Japanese restaurant, ask them for the brand name.
References :
Experience

By: Hunter P

Hunter P — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:42:59 +0000

I can only assume that they are using fresh tea leaves. You might need to go to a specialty shop or something to find some.
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