Looking for the best green tea brand? You’ve come to the right place! We’ll show you which brand is best for green tea. We’ll also show you why the question what is the best brand for green tea might be a bit more complicated than you think.
Let’s get started!
What’s the Best Green Tea Brand
Before we talk about the best green tea brand, let’s first talk about one thing first. When it comes to green tea which brand is best might not be the right question to ask.
You see, green tea isn’t made by brands, it’s made by farmers. A company can become the best green tea brand by working with the best farmers, but ultimately the quality of the tea comes down to the people that produce it.
If you’re still wondering what is the best brand for green tea, let’s go through a list of things to look for.
Transparency
When it comes to finding which brand is best for green tea, the most important factor is transparency and specificity. A brand should be able to tell you exactly where the tea comes from. At Nio Teas, we take that concept to the extreme and show you the exact farmer that grew the tea.
Some of the best green tea brand like to keep their suppliers a carefully guarded secret, and while that is okay they should at the very least be able to tell you the region and the cultivar of the tea. This means that the tea was chosen with intention, and not just purchased based on price.
If you want to learn about the different tea growing regions, you might like our article 👉 Where Does Japanese Tea Grow?
Quality Assurance
Of course if a company wants to establish themselves as the best brand of green tea, they need to make sure they have good quality assurance. This means that they not only have a few good teas, but all the teas are good.
When it comes to which brand is best for green tea, it is important that the standards of quality are applied across the entire product line, not just the best selling teas. At Nio Teas, if we get too much negative feedback about a particular tea, we simply remove it from the product line, simple as that!
Integrity
Finally, if you are looking for which is the best brand of green tea, you will also want to look at the integrity of the team. Do they have a personal interest in green tea, or are they some large organization without much personal interest in tea.
At Nio, we are a team of tea nerds that have been traveling to Japan in search of some of the best tea. We all drink green tea daily, so we know exactly what people are looking for when it comes to taste, quality and customer experience!
How we found What is the Best Brand for Green Tea
So now that we have covered what to look for in the best brand of green tea, let’s talk about what we look for in green tea which brand is best and how we determine that. Let’s take a look at our checklist.
Taste
This should be obvious, but when we are considering working with a new farmer, the taste is the most important. We like to visit the tea farmers in person to taste the teas alongside them.
This way, we get to experience the tea just as the farmer intended and evaluate its taste. We will ultimately make our decision based on what we think our customers will enjoy and we will evaluate which brand is the best green tea based on texture, flavor, aroma and finish.
If you want to become a tea tasting expert, there are a few things you'll want to do. The first is reading our article 👉 What does matcha taste like? Taste Chart with Video
Sustainability
At Nio, it’s not only about which is the best brand of green tea in terms of taste, we also want to find what is the best brand for green tea in terms of sustainability. One advantage of visiting the fields in person is we can actually see the type of environment the tea is grown on.
We like to work with farmers who have a healthy tea field that can not only foster the growth of delicious tea, but also a diverse array of flora and fauna. The best green tea brand, in our mind, also needs to be sustainable.
Using natural fertilizer is one way that farmers can keep their farms sustainable, and if you want to learn more about it you can read this article here 👉 Complete Guide about Tea Fertilizer in Japan
Ingenuity
Finally, when we are looking for which brand is best for green tea, we like to work with farmers that aren’t afraid to try new things. We like to take the time to learn about the unique fertilization and harvesting methods they use to produce their delicious tea.
By working with these farmers, we can constantly release new and rare teas, and become the best green tea brand!
Which brand is best for green tea like matcha?
We have tasted hundreds of different matchas, so which brand is the best green tea? Let’s break down 3 of our favorites:
Nakai Matcha
So what is the best brand for green tea when it comes to matcha? The Nakai family has a solid claim to that title! They have been producing matcha without the use of pesticides for generations, and their crown Jewel is the Nakai Superior Matcha.
This tea is super smooth, with no bitterness. It is made using the prized Okumidori cultivar and a delicate leaf selection. If you want to try other teas from the Nakai family, we also recommend the Matcha Washimine and Matcha Seisui.
Masuda Matcha
If you are looking for the best green tea brand but you still want to stay in budget, Mr. Masuda can’t be beat! We have met with him a few times at his farm in Shizuoka, and each time he teaches us some new things about matcha.
Some of his best matchas include the Masudaen Makinohara Matcha which is grown in Shizuoka and the Masudaen Kyoto Matcha which is grown in Kyoto but processed at his facility in Shizuoka. These have the vibrant green color and smooth flavor of top-notch matcha teas but at a fraction of the price.
Chanoka Matcha
If you are looking for which brand is the best green tea and you want to try a tea from the legendary region of Uji, Chanoka is the best green tea brand.
These teas like the premium Chanoka Silver Matcha and the more affordable Chanoka Okumidori matcha have a smooth rich flavor and a thick mouthfeel. Uji has had the reputation for producing the best matcha in Japan for the past 400 years and with these teas you’ll be taking part of history with every sip.
By the way, if you want to learn more about matcha, we suggest your read our guide 👉 What is Matcha? The one and only Matcha-Encyclopedia
Which brand is best for green tea like sencha?
So now that we’ve gone over which is the best brand of green tea for matcha, let’s talk about what is the best brand for green tea that comes in loose leaf form.
This is the type of green tea you’re likely thinking of, it’s infused into water and it comes in a lot of different forms like sencha, gyokuro and roasted tea. Let’s go through our candidates for which brand is the best green tea.
Sakamoto Gyokuro
A list of the best green tea brand wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Mr. Sakamoto. He has a very specific focus, and he does it very well. For generations, his family has specialized in producing the so-called emperor’s tea - Gyokuro.
This tea is incredibly difficult to produce, but when it’s done right it has an unbelievable sweet and savory flavor that is unlike anything you’ve had before. Mr. Sakamoto’s best teas include the light and sweet Gyokuro Cha Meijin, the smooth and balanced Sasa Hime and the bold and savory Cha musume.
Henta Sencha
When it comes to green tea which brand is best is often a question of variety, and although Mr. Henta operates a small farm, he is able to produce a stunning variety of delicious green teas.
He cultivates 8 different tea plant varieties, which all have different flavors and prefer different growing conditions. He carefully blends all 8 of these tea varieties together into his signature Henta Sencha, which takes on the best aspects of each!
Issin Kamairicha and Hojicha
As we’ve mentioned before, when searching for the best brand of green tea, one of the things we look for is farmers that are always trying new things. Mr. Issin is a great example of this. Up in the mountains of Takachiho he is hard at work crafting beautiful pan fired green teas.
The Issin Kamairicha is his signature tea, made using partially roasted tea leaves. This tea is rare in Japan as a whole, but farmers in his region of Takachiho still use these traditional methods to produce this unique tea with notes of caramel and toasted cashews.
Best Green Tea Brand - The Final Verdict
So when it comes to green tea which brand is best may not be the best question, but I hope this article has helped you narrow down your search for the best green tea brand. Just remember, green tea is not produced by brands, it’s produced by farmers.
When you are searching for the best brand of green tea, just make sure they put the farmers at the forefront and don’t try to hide their hard work! If you are interested in learning more about some of the farmers we work with, we’d love to show you in this guide
