Silly question

[iheartea]

I know it's silly, but I want to drink green tea that's green in the cup. After steeping, it starts out green, but then turns yellow. Does anyone have any insight and know how to keep their green teas green???

[olivierco]

It depends on the tea but if you want a deep green tea, you have matcha. Deep steamed (fukamushi) sencha is green too, but less intense.

[Bert]

It really depends on the tea. Most chinese green teas don't turn out green; they tend to give a yellow infusion. I think it may be caused by the method used to stop oxidation of the leaves. Chinese greens mainly get roasted in a pan; japanese greens mainly get steamed.

[Chip]

Not a silly question at all!

As brewed tea sits in the cup, even if it green to start, it will often fade to yellow as green particles sink to the bottom, and as the liquid is exposed to oxygen.

Sometimes the green can be renewed by gentle swirling of the cup, sometimes not.

But the most "green" teas in the cup are clearly Japanese.

[Dreamer]

And even if you have really green tea...if you keep it warm for any length of time it will start to turn brown. This is really noticeable with Japanese greens...I know this because I sometimes mix multiple steeps in a serving pot and keep it warm over a candle while I sip away a cold afternoon (wait, I think I hear the tea-police at my door).

I've even noticed with the "black" teas that I put in my briefcase bullet for work that even tho they start out a beautiful dark amber or red/amber, if I keep it warm in the thermos till afternoon, it will be a dark brown color...still tastes good, but the color is definitely changed.

I believe this is a sign of oxidation happening.

Not a silly question at all!!!
Dreamer

[iheartea]

The only time my green teas stay green in my cup is at a sushi bar or Japanese restaurant. If you sit at many of the sushi bars with conveyor belts in Japan, you will probably have a personal hot water "faucet" near you. There is a little container of powdered green tea, which I think contains low-grade matcha or maybe sencha, and you take a scoop, pour it into your tea cup and stir. That tea amazingly stays a very beautiful green in the cup. Wonder what's the secret. Silly, but I guess it's just a visual thing with me.

At home, It seems as though the longer my green tea sits, the yellower and darker it gets. I wonder why this oxidation happens with teas and not other kinds of drinks.

[iheartea]

sorry . . . a duplication.

[Tead Off]

The only time my green teas stay green in my cup is at a sushi bar or Japanese restaurant. If you sit at many of the sushi bars with conveyor belts in Japan, you will probably have a personal hot water "faucet" near you. There is a little container of powdered green tea, which I think contains low-grade matcha or maybe sencha, and you take a scoop, pour it into your tea cup and stir. That tea amazingly stays a very beautiful green in the cup. Wonder what's the secret. Silly, but I guess it's just a visual thing with me.

At home, It seems as though the longer my green tea sits, the yellower and darker it gets. I wonder why this oxidation happens with teas and not other kinds of drinks.

I think most of the powdered teas in restaurants are powdered sencha which mixes easier.

[Chip]

Nowadays they grind many types of tea into powder, mostly Japanese teas Japanese teas, however China is always right there to offer cheaper and generally inferior versions which appeal to many businesses.

As Tead Off said, it could be powdered sencha which is made similarly to matcha, but the particles are not ground as fine and it stirs in versus the need for wisking as with matcha.

Also some or many of these contain some kind of additive to aid in the suspension and to prevent caking/clumps (powdered tea does not dissolve).