TeaChat

My tea always taste weak, and bland - especially when using tea bags. It just tastes like hot water with the very slightest hint of tea. Im having thesesame problems. here's what ive tried

steep temp from 180 to 212.
steep time from 3 minutes to 7 minutes.
loose leaf and tea bags.
covered, and uncovered during steep
I only use spring water.
Im experimenting with tazo's zen at the moment. but ive tried mighty leaf, celestial, bigelow, golden moon, and a few others. mainly greens, and i have the same problem.

any advice would be appreciated.

Have you tried using more leaf? INstead of trying just a teaspoon, try using a tablespoon.

I have - still doesnt quite do it.

Quick edit: I just tried a heaping tablespoon of mighty leaf's green tea tropical to 8oz of water, and it basically tastes like hot water.

Are you able to taste anything else??

...I mean, do you have a personal reference as to what green tea /should/ taste like to you? Have you ever had green tea that tasted good, and NOT like hot water?

It's starting to sound like you're expecting it to be big and bold like a heavy black tea, not the light/vegetal overtone of a green tea.

-Drew (The Trees Sublimit?)

Well, you've done all the right things in terms of preparation. But the green teas you've mentioned are merely bagged tea companies. So really you haven't answered for yourself what type of tea you like.

If you are sold on wanting a green tea then experiment with the different kinds: Dragon Well, Pi Lo Chun, Jasmine, Kukicha, GenMaicha, or Hojicha.

It may be that your palette isn't suited to green tea. YOu may want to try an oolong tea: Wuyi or TiKuanYin if you like heavier or a ShanLin or Snow Orchid if you want a paler, more grassy/vegetal taste.

Good luck and have fun trying!

I had the same problem when I first tried greens. Turns out my palette wasn't sensitive enough to appreciate green teas at the time - I had just quit smoking and was drinking a lot of sodas.

I had to develope a taste for them. It took some time, but now I love green tea and I'm starting to experiment with whites.

Try cleansing your palette before drinking it. Also, take your time. I've found that some teas are so delicate you really have to slow down and allow yourself time to taste the tea.

Thanks for all the responses. I usually dont drink bagged teas - it just seemed like the ones i've tried were very bland. I just received my order from adagio today ( sencha premier, and kukicha ) so i'll report back after i try these out.

My first step into green tea was tea bags, after being in a family of black tea drinkers (Lipton with some milk and honey).

After trying loose leaf teas, wow was my mind BLOWN.

I work an office job and due to the convince I still drink bagged green tea. I'd have to say that Bigelow is one of the better ones, but I still use two bags to get a decent flavor from it. Lipton green tea is just bland, and Celestial Seasonings is just very bitter (plus they mix it with herbal ingredients which could be the cause for the less-than-pleasing flavor).

Try a cooler temperature like 150-170 degrees, I've found boiling or near boiling will kill the flavor of any green tea, and I'd imagine the only reason they recommend it for bagged teas is consumer convince because just boiling water is easy. Basically bring the water to a boil and wait three or five minutes before pouring it into your cup for it to cool down, then add your tea bag.

[edit]
Also I'd imagine that a lot of bagged green tea is too stale by the time it gets to your cup and maybe that's why I like Bigelow from my workplace because the tea bag is packaged in individual foil sealed rip-open bags.