What Green Tea Is

Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is the young leaf gently steamed or pan-fired to arrest oxidation, preserving the pale-jade infusion and its signature catechins — chiefly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). It reached Persia and the wider Islamic world along the Silk Road and, alongside black tea, became a household ritual. In Persian and Chinese traditions it is considered cooling, drying, and clarifying — the daily companion to a rich meal, a long conversation, and a clear afternoon. Modern research consistently attaches modest but repeatable benefits to habitual consumption: better lipid profiles, gentler post-meal glucose, calmer blood pressure, and — most distinctively — the L-theanine and caffeine pairing behind its unusual 'calm alertness.'

Known to botanists as Camellia sinensis.