How to make green tea drinkable!!!

jesand86

Don't make it too strong. The longer you leave the bag in the more bitter it is gonna get. One minute tops for me, and even then I add water to make it weaker depending on the kind of tea i am using. I don't sweeten it. But I agree with most that's written before me, don't force anything you don't like.

chezjuan

DONT use boiling water! It gives it a bitter taste, stop the kettle when it's hot but not boiling and only brew for a couple of minutes. You can add honey to sweeten

^^This.

I learned this when I got an electric kettle that has pre-sets for different types of teas. I went from simple liking tea to really enjoying it because the temps and timings really do make a difference.

Here is a handy steeping chart for various tea types. http://lifehacker.com/5974068/make-the-perfect-cup-of-tea-with-these-steeping-times-and-temperatures

As others have mentioned, it is also good to play around a little with the temps and times, starting with the above guidelines, to find what suits you best.

I really enjoy using honey to sweeten tea, if I add a sweetener.

MissKitty9

I love green tea plain, & I agree that the bottled kind of junk (unless you get the plain unsweetened "just tea" brand) Of course, that's just my opinion.

If you want to try drinking it even though you can't stomach it, try adding some lemon? You could even add flavored almond milk, just a TINY bit to sweeten it without too many calories.

tigersword

I just looked up the ingredients to the Lipton tea ( WATER, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE (TO PROTECT FLAVOR), GREEN TEA, NATURAL FLAVOR, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), PHOSPHORIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVES FRESHNESS), ASPARTAME, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, CITRUS PECTIN, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (TO PROTECT FLAVOR)
I'm somewhat new to clean eating but what I have found to be widely agreed upon was the fewer ingredients more than likely the better it is for you. And if you can't pronounce many of the ingredients its probably not so good haha. I may be wrong with that as well. I really like the Lipton tea and not so much the brewed tea from home. So are these ingredients things to stay away from or won't do so much harm? I guess I should also add the bottled tea I've been buying is the diet version.

Most people can't pronounce the real chemical names of actual foods, so whether you can pronounce it or not is a ridiculous criteria, what if I can't pronounce pomegranate (I can barely spell it lol?) as for those ingredients, most of the are vitamins and minerals that your body needs anyway, so nothing to worry about (even aspartame is just protein.)

chezjuan

Here is the only way I like green tea. Even then it wasn't very good imo.

Holy crap! This has to be the best food I never knew existed. Immediately upon seeing this I went online and ordered a bag!

d2footballJRC

Here is the only way I like green tea. Even then it wasn't very good imo.

Holy crap! This has to be the best food I never knew existed. Immediately upon seeing this I went online and ordered a bag!

If you like Green Tea you'll like it. It tastes like Green Tea with chunks of Chocolate in it.

LINIA

It is all about the brand you buy, many of the better known brands are too bitter, STASH is pretty good---instead of purchasing with added fruit--try this--USE a different tea bag for your fruity taste, (decaf) so as not to get you confused purchase peach tea, mango tea or cherry tea.

Use both tea bags and also immerse clementine/orange slices/ lime. I love this and i don't use any artificial sweeteners, none at all. ("STASH") wildberry hibiscus works nicely, Other great brands are 'the republic of tea" , " DeLish" and "Teavana".

ggmom55

When I started drinking green tea, I had the same problem. One day I had a cup after brushing my teeth with a minty toothpaste, I brewed a cup found it a rather pleasant drink. The minty taste was the trick for me. Now I can drink plain green tea and I can drink it with no sugar or sweetners added hot or iced.

gobonas99

I haven't met a tea I didn't like. LOL

That said, I do sometimes add a teeny bit of honey, lemon, or sugar to sweeten non-flavored teas, but I don't normally add anything to flavored teas. Granted, it did take me some time to work down to that - when I started drinking tea, I added honey and sugar to EVERYTHING! LOL :laugh: I gradually reduced how much I put in to get to where I am now.

BUT, you need to be careful with how you brew your teas, as they are NOT created equal. Green tea has a different brewing requirement than black tea, which has a different requirement than white tea, which has a different requirement than red tea. Google to learn how each type of tea leaves prefers to be brewed to result in the best tasting tea it can be. :happy:

ETA: my favorite brand of tea is Mighty Leaf - the Orange Dulce is to DIE for.

varchar

If You want to drink green tea, buy the leafy one. I stopped drinking the tea from bags, cause you never know what they put there as "tea" And avoid any aroma - as it usually makes tea smell nice but taste bad.

My favourite green tea is with jasmine flowers - it's mild and I didn't feel the need to add sugar, even I was adding some to my black tea.
The tea shouldn't be poured with boiling water. The ideal temperature for black tea is 95 and for green 85. So wait 5-10 minutes to let the water cool a bit or turn the kettle few seconds before water boils.
And brew it shorter than a black tea - 3 minutes is enough for green tea. After 5 minutes a bad quality green tea gets bitter.

kjmenser

I drink my green tea with just a little bit of honey.

avskk

I've never liked green tea hot; however, I find it delicious ice-cold with a squeeze of lemon juice.

matyoung125

The quality of green tea you can buy varies wildly. A good green tea should taste okay. Like someone said don't use boiling water. If you want another taste try steeping ginger, mint or lemon with the tea.

rrsuthy

I agree with the person who said it depends on the brand. I bought generic store brand recently and it was awful. I went back to Twinngs (sp?) and Bigelow (which ever is on sale). I use Stevia to sweeten it. I usually drink one cup in the morning and am working on adding a 2nd cup in the afternoon. Oh.. I also made the mistake of buying Kroger's brand of stevia - it is awful.

WendyTerry420

Add honey. You could also drink it iced with honey.

Honey is the only acceptable addition to green tea, imo, unless it's ginseng or some other herb.

WendyTerry420

Here is the only way I like green tea. Even then it wasn't very good imo.

That doesn't look right. If not for the Asian writing, I would guess that it was a St. Patrick's day special. :laugh:

lilbearzmom

I use Stevia in mine. I really only drink it for the benefits, not because I like it so much. Also, I think those refrigerated bottled teas are so low in the green tea antioxidants that you shouldn't be drinking them for that specific reason....only if you like them I guess.

WendyTerry420

Here is the only way I like green tea. Even then it wasn't very good imo.

Holy crap! This has to be the best food I never knew existed. Immediately upon seeing this I went online and ordered a bag!

If you like Green Tea you'll like it. It tastes like Green Tea with chunks of Chocolate in it.

12 mini-sized for $11.49? Wow! Either of you find a better deal?

TeaBea

I just looked up the ingredients to the Lipton tea ( WATER, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE (TO PROTECT FLAVOR), GREEN TEA, NATURAL FLAVOR, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), PHOSPHORIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVES FRESHNESS), ASPARTAME, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, CITRUS PECTIN, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (TO PROTECT FLAVOR)
I'm somewhat new to clean eating but what I have found to be widely agreed upon was the fewer ingredients more than likely the better it is for you. And if you can't pronounce many of the ingredients its probably not so good haha. I may be wrong with that as well. I really like the Lipton tea and not so much the brewed tea from home. So are these ingredients things to stay away from or won't do so much harm? I guess I should also add the bottled tea I've been buying is the diet version.

The reason you don't like brewed tea at home is because the bottled stuff tastes NOTHING like green tea (Lipton brand anyway). The diet stuff is very similar to diet soda (IMO), if you like diet soda better .... just drink that.

I agree with poster who said that the water should not be boiling ..... too hot water will make bitter tea. Steeping a shorter time will help. Lipton bottled tea is very weak (judging from the color).

Here's a recipe I like (you can play with it): CITRUS GINGER GREEN TEA

1 1-inch piece of ginger peeled and sliced
1 orange thinly sliced, leaving the peel on
1 lemon thinly sliced, leaving the peel on
2 family size green tea bags (or 8 single bags)
1 tablespoon honey or to taste (optional)

Heat 1 qt of water with ginger slices to almost boiling. Remove from heat and add tea bags, steep for 3-4 minutes. Add the fruit slices and steeped tea to a gallon pitcher. Let stand about 10-15 minutes, then add honey and stir. Add enough ice and cold water to fill the pitcher.

Taste will be stronger the second day. Rub fruit slices against the back of a slotted spoon to release some juices.

lafoto13

I think it tastes best *kitten* iced green tea. A tiny bit of agave and then a dash of almond milk-- yum!

Lots of antioxidants= worth trying again!!!