Okay, so today I decided to dive into the world of Chinese green tea. I’ve always been more of a coffee person, but I’ve heard so much about the benefits of green tea, and I figured, why not give it a shot?

Getting Started

First, I went to the local Asian grocery store. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer variety of teas! There were so many boxes and tins, with labels I couldn’t even begin to understand. After wandering around for a bit, I finally picked a simple-looking green tea – just plain, loose-leaf tea, nothing fancy.

The Brewing Process

Back home, I looked up how to actually brew this stuff. Apparently, you don’t want to use boiling water, because it can make the tea bitter. Who knew? I heated up some water until it was, like, steaming but not quite bubbling. I used my electric kettle for it, it has a function that allows you to set a target temperature.

• I put a spoonful of the tea leaves into a little strainer thingy I have.
• Then I poured the hot water over the leaves and let it sit.
• I may have forgotten the time, and just waiting it to be done.

First Sip (and a few more)

Okay, so the first sip was… interesting. It definitely wasn’t coffee! It was kind of grassy, a little bit bitter, but also surprisingly refreshing. I added a tiny bit of honey, and that made it much more palatable for me. After a while, I am able to drink it without adding anything.

I ended up drinking a couple of cups throughout the afternoon. I don’t know if it was the tea or just a placebo effect, but I did feel a little more focused and less jittery than I usually do after my afternoon coffee.

Final Thoughts

So, my Chinese green tea experiment was pretty successful! It’s not going to replace my morning coffee anytime soon, but I can definitely see myself drinking it more often. Maybe I’ll even try some of those other fancy teas next time I’m at the store. I still have to use up the whole tea that I bought today, after all!