oh god not the spinach juice

[cha cha cha]

My first 'tea epiphany' occurred in Korea. I was studying at Seoul National University, and the philology department sponsored a trip to a teahouse. There, I experienced the Korean tea ceremony and drank the best tea of my life! Before this, I had really disliked tea.. particularly for its bitterness. This Korean green tea had been brewed properly and, so, was smooth and sweet.

The problem is, I have not been able to find a green tea that lived up to this experience. The problem I have had with the loose leaf green teas I have tried is the vegetal taste. I've also found the teas lacking in body.

So, which experience is the anomaly? Are green teas generally vegetal, or will simply drinking higher quality tea help me avoid the spinach juice?

Which kinds of green tea are less vegetal and more sweet than the others?

[Geekgirl]

Hahaha! I don't have a comprehensive answer for you, but I had to laugh at your title. My husband calls matcha and japanese greens "broccoli juice." LMAO!

[Pentox]

Hm, well my experience in non-japanese greens is not terribly thorough, but here's a bit of a rundown as best as I can give one.

If you're looking to stay away from vegetal and go for something sweet, you could try looking in the flavored green (Japanese) varities. These are typically made with bancha and therefore a bit less vegetal. The flavoring can add sweetness. The same could be said for a genmaicha, although that trades the flavoring for a rice starchiness. It definitely transcends to a form of sweetness, but less like a sugary one. Definitely stay away from gyokuro as that is typically rather vegetal. Some of the sencha varsities such as yutaka midori are on the sweeter side, but you're probably not going to like it that much if you don't like the vegetal taste. Green teas as a whole tend to lack that sense of body that you may find in a black tea. A good bancha though will have a fullness of body, but lack in the depth like a black. It will feel like it fills out your mouth, but won't have much power to it.

[thanks]

Bi Luo Chun might be more up your alley, or you might want to just look elsewhere entirely. Most young Baozhong oolongs I've tried seem to taste like green tea, but without any bitterness, less vegetal, and sweet.

[gingkoseto]

I almost never taste bitterness from a green tea. Could it be too much tea leaves is used? Or maybe feeling of taste significantly differs from person to person. There is a tea that is so bitter to me that I can't take, my husband said he didn't feel it bitter at all.

[Victoria]

It is very hard to find good Korean tea sites. You might try here:

http://www.shanshuiteas.com/index.php

One of the few places I have found Korean oolong.
I believe the Korean green tea may be processed differently
then either the Japanese or Chinese greens you may have been trying.

Also it might be entirely possible that although they served it to you in
Korea, it was not from Korea.

[zacstill]

bi luo chun, as thanks said, is a good one to try
you might also like dong ding oolong

[Chip]

Long Jing, simply the most popular tea in China. A lot of the mid grades and lower are more toasty or nutty. The higher end ones can be more veggie.

Just about all Japanese teas seem rather veggie to me but pleasantly so if brewed at lower temps.

[stanthegoomba]

Which kinds of green tea are less vegetal and more sweet than the others?

Oolongs.

My experience has been that the sweet green teas are also the vegetal ones. I've found the smokey/nutty ones like gunpowder and longjing less broccoli-like, but not necessarily sweet.

Gunpowder green + mint, also known as Moroccan Tea, is a delicious and totally underrated option.

[ABx]

I think the problem you will run into here is that "Vegetal" is a pretty broad stroke with a wide brush. Green teas are all vegetal to some extent, I suspect even the one that you liked. This can range from very lightly and pleasantly vegetal, like tasting the tea leaf itself, all the way to stewed spinach. If you are ending up with stewed spinach then it's possible that you're oversteeping. What you might want to do is just mention what you're trying to brew and how you're brewing it. There are a lot of good green teas that are nice and sweet without any harshness, so you might also mention what you actually liked about that one in Korea so someone can point you in the right direction.

[gingkoseto]

I think the problem you will run into here is that "Vegetal" is a pretty broad stroke with a wide brush. Green teas are all vegetal to some extent, I suspect even the one that you liked. This can range from very lightly and pleasantly vegetal, like tasting the tea leaf itself, all the way to stewed spinach. If you are ending up with stewed spinach then it's possible that you're oversteeping. What you might want to do is just mention what you're trying to brew and how you're brewing it. There are a lot of good green teas that are nice and sweet without any harshness, so you might also mention what you actually liked about that one in Korea so someone can point you in the right direction.

That's true! And actually I even love stewed spinach soup with meatball and lots of other stuff added

[Shelob]

That's true! And actually I even love stewed spinach soup with meatball and lots of other stuff added

Me too and it's great w/rice and tomatoes!! I agree that if it is way
toooo 'spinachy', it has probably been overbrewed. But if one likes spinach, it is still palatible!