Uses of Camellia Sinensis Assamica Leaves To Make Green Tea

(Australia)

We have recently bought a farm which has tea plants growing on it. Currently the leaves are sent to a local factory and processed into black tea. I was wondering if it would be possible to use these Camellia Sinensis Assamica leaves to instead make different types of teas such as green teas, or are the different teas a combination of processing methods as well as plant varieties?

Ta, Marg

Answer:

Hey Marg, I am not a tea processing expert so I can only speak from general knowledge.

The answer to your question is a tentative no, primarily because in China, different kinds of tea varieties are used to make different type of teas.

Green tea, for example, can be processed using at least four primary methods, into at least 9 different shapes. Different tea varieties are used to produce different types of green tea because they have different characteristics and are adapted to live in different parts of China.

For these reasons, Assamica leaves are less suited to make the Asian green tea, which comes from a different family of tea.

What I am not sure is what you can use your tea plants for. If they are used to make green tea, I guess they will be pretty low grade. I am not sure if it is commercially viable. They may be. Indonesia and India have been producing green tea, although I am unsure which tea varieties they use.

I hope this helps.

Julian