Green Tea

Our green teas are carefully selected for quality, flavor, and that natural vitality only minimal processing can preserve. You'll find top-grade matcha and gyokuro alongside exceptional Japanese senchas, plus remarkable Chinese greens like Dragonwell and Cloud and Mist. We also create unique green tea blends—always hand-blended in-house at Zhi—using natural herbs, flowers, and spices.

Green tea's character comes from what doesn't happen to it. After harvest, the leaves undergo a quick firing in a giant wok to stop oxidation—the "kill green" stage that preserves their verdant color and fresh, vegetable-forward flavor. Then they're dried immediately, locking in that brightness. Unlike black tea, which oxidizes fully, or oolong, which oxidizes partially, green tea stays close to its original state. Even white tea, though minimally processed, oxidizes slightly more.

The result is a tea with subtle sweetness, a thick mouthfeel, and what Jeffrey called a "mood elevator"—caffeine that lifts without jarring, thanks to high levels of L-theanine. Cloud and Mist, grown at high elevation on a small island off China's coast where Buddhist monks once tended the plants, shows what great green tea can be: complex, contemplative, sweet on the finish. It's the kind of tea that invites you to slow down, focus inward, and let the clouds break away.

Steep green tea with water just off the boil—too hot and you'll scorch those delicate leaves. Keep it short, and if you want a bolder cup, use more leaf rather than steeping longer. Whether you brew loose leaf or reach for our convenient silky sachets, green tea rewards patience and attention.

Jeffrey Lorien shares the beauty and process of green tea in the video below.