Green Tea

Green tea's origin is traced by Chinese legend to 2737 BCE, when Emperor Shennong discovered tea when leaves blew into his boiling water. Unlike black tea, green tea is minimally processed — leaves are heated quickly after harvesting (either pan-fired in China or steamed in Japan) to prevent oxidation, preserving the green colour and fresh, grassy flavour. This minimal processing also retains the highest levels of catechins and antioxidants of any tea type.

Green tea spread from China through Asia over millennia, becoming central to Japanese culture where the elaborate tea ceremony (chanoyu) and matcha tradition evolved. Today, green tea is the most consumed tea in Asia and is associated with some of the world's longest-living populations — Okinawa in Japan, where green tea is consumed daily, has one of the highest concentrations of centenarians on Earth.

At Cappadocia, our green tea is brewed at the correct temperature (80°C, not boiling) to preserve the delicate catechins and prevent the bitterness that comes from over-heating — a detail that separates a well-made green tea from a disappointing one.