Green tea styles compared
Five green teas spanning steamed and pan-fired, shaded and unshaded, roasted and fresh. The fixation method splits this category more than any origin does.
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What is being compared
Why these get confused
Green tea is widely assumed to be a single delicate thing needing cool water. Hojicha takes boiling water, gunpowder is robust, and gyokuro wants water so cool it surprises people. The category has no single rule.
Point by point
| Aspect | Sencha | Gyokuro | Longjing | Hojicha | Gunpowder green tea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How it is fixed | Steamed. No contact with hot metal, so nothing toasts. | Steamed, and shaded for three weeks before picking. | Pan-fired in a wok, which fixes and shapes in one operation. | Steamed, then roasted afterwards until reddish-brown. | Pan-fired, then rolled into tight pellets. |
| Commonly described as | Grassy, marine and briskly astringent with a savoury edge. | Thick, sweet and intensely savoury, with almost no astringency. | Chestnut-sweet, nutty and clean, with a soft body. | Toasted, caramel-sweet and warm, with no astringency at all. | Brisk, faintly smoky and blunt, with real grip. |
| Water temperature | 70 to 80 °C. | 50 to 60 °C — far cooler than any other tea in normal use. | 75 to 85 °C. | 90 to 100 °C. Unusually for a green tea, it needs the heat. | 80 to 90 °C, and a longer steep to open the pellets. |
| How forgiving it is | Moderate. Too-hot water is the standard fault. | Demanding to brew, easy to enjoy once made — and expensive to waste. | Forgiving, and the most approachable Chinese green. | Very forgiving. Hard to make badly. | Forgiving, and robust enough for heavy-handed treatment. |
| Who may prefer it | Anyone wanting the reference Japanese green tea experience. | Anyone curious what umami means in a cup, once the basics are familiar. | Anyone who dislikes marine flavours but wants a fresh green tea. | Anyone who has decided they dislike green tea. Start here. | Anyone wanting something robust, cheap, and good with mint. |
The short answer
Hojicha and Longjing are the two entry points, for opposite reasons — one removes the vegetal character entirely, the other replaces it with nuttiness. Sencha is the reference. Gyokuro is worth reaching once the rest make sense.
Not a ranking. TeaHQ publishes no ratings and does not know your occasion.