Evidence based
Regular green tea drinkers are always on the hunt for the best green tea brands.
After all, even though green tea comes from the same Camellia Sinensis plant as black tea, white tea, and oolong, it has special properties that set it apart from the rest.
A cup of green tea boasts incredible health benefits, has a deliciously light taste, and just the right amount of caffeine. Plus, green tea has higher levels of L-theanine. This amino acid promotes a calm yet focused alertness and helps counteract the potential jitteriness of caffeine.
But with so many green tea brands on the market, even the most avid fans find themselves overwhelmed with options. So we rounded up 15 of our favorites in this guide. You’ll find a mix of premium brands and everyday grocery store finds to kick off your green tea tasting journey.
Curious about the health benefits of green tea or the best green tea for skin health? Check out those guides later since we won’t be diving into the science-backed reasons to drink green tea here.
The Top 10 Best Green Tea Brands in 2021
Today we’re focusing on which is the best green tea and dishing about the best tasting green tea brands. So which characteristics make the healthiest and best green tea brands?
Let’s explore several different varieties and learn why they made our list:
1. Pique Tea Green Tea Crystals
If you’re looking for the best green tea for antioxidants, Pique tea should be your first choice.
Using a patented cold extraction process, the natural antioxidants, polyphenols, and phytonutrients in Pique tea crystals shine brighter than other brands on the market. This unique, cutting-edge process takes up to eight hours and preserves these important compounds so you can take advantage of their full health potential.
Pique also triple toxin screens all their teas to ensure pesticides, heavy metals, and toxic molds stay out of your delicious cup. And all Pique teas are certified organic, making them even more trustworthy.
Check out their assortment of delicious green teas:
Jasmine Green Tea offers pure catechins in full bloom by combining the aromatic flavors of jasmine flower with green tea leaves. Each light, airy, flavorful cup of tea contains 45-55mg of caffeine to support a calm focus that helps you power through your day.
Passionfruit Green Tea is a Japanese-style green tea with bright, fruity notes layered on a delicious green tea base. There’s also 40-49mg of caffeine in each serving, making it the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.
Mint Green Tea provides a smaller boost of caffeine (28-34mg per cup), yet its refreshing flavor helps awaken your senses and keeps you hydrated. The clean mint notes aren’t overpowering and leave a lasting energy long after you’ve enjoyed a cup.
Sencha Japanese Green Tea delivers fresh and aromatic hints of spring. You’ll feel transported to your happy space with every sip. Its low caffeine level also means you won’t be overly energized, making it ideal for unwinding when you’re not ready for bed.
Ginger Green Tea is perfect for fasting, as you’ll have something delicious to enjoy while you’re abstaining from food. You’ll savor notes of ginger, peppermint, licorice, lemon, and orange atop the green tea base.
Two other perks make Pique teas stand out from the pack:
First, their tea crystals are ideal for quick, on-the-go enjoyment. You simply brew your water to the perfect temperature, drop in your tea crystals, stir, and sip. Easy peasy! No more dealing with soggy green tea bags and sachets.
Second, you can brew Pique’s tea crystals with hot water or cold water. So making iced tea in the summer or after a workout is just as quick and easy.
2. FGO Organic Green Tea
FGO uses 100% raw organic green tea leaves from China. Besides being high-quality tea, you won’t find any added fillers or additives, similar to Pique tea.
To brew a cup of FGO green tea, drop a tea bag in 8 oz of lightly boiling water, steep, and enjoy. According to their site, their regular green tea variety contains caffeine levels equal to 20-30% of a normal cup of coffee. FGO sells decaffeinated green tea as well.
Bonus: FGO’s tea bags are made from hemp fiber, which makes them compostable and helps eliminate landfill waste. Just add them to your compost pile after you brew to do your part.
3. The Republic of Tea The People’s Green Tea
The Republic of Tea offers several green teas, many of which are organic, in lots of different flavors. From Immunity Super Green Tea to Blueberry, Raspberry, or Peach Green tea, you can find almost any flavor you’re craving and leave the sweeteners behind.
While The People’s Green Tea is a top seller, it’s not certified organic. However, it is non-GMO and sugar- and carb-free (like many teas on this list).
The Republic of Tea says their green tea has less than a quarter of the caffeine you’d find in a coffee of the same size. And you can steep their green tea bags in roughly one to three minutes.
4. Numi Organic Green Teas
Numi sells USDA organic teas free of preservatives and only uses ethically-sourced ingredients.
As far as their green tea options go, their Gunpowder Green tea comes from a single origin in Jiangxi, China, and it’s crafted from full leaf pearls. This variety and their Jasmine Green tea have a medium caffeine level and can be brewed in just two to three minutes.
Numi also sells a Ginger Lemon decaf green tea if you’re avoiding caffeine.
5. Mighty Leaf Organic Green Dragon
Mighty Leaf makes our list of the best green tea brands because they use premium organic Chinese green tea leaves and wok-fire them to produce their Green Dragon tea. This gives their loose leaf organic green tea nutty notes of chestnuts and a light caffeine level. The brand also packs its loose leaf green tea in silken tea pouches for easy cleanup.
6. Vahdam Organic Himalayan Green Tea
Vahdam is a well-known green tea brand for many reasons.
Not only is their tea certified organic, they also use 100% real ingredients sourced from the Himalayas. The brand is certified Carbon and Plastic neutral, and their tea is ethically sourced using fair trade practices, as their website shares. Vahdam even donates 1% of their revenue to fund the education of their tea growers’ children.
Their full-leaf green tea pyramid can be brewed in three to five minutes. Unlike other teas on today’s list, it offers a high caffeine level when you need more pep in your step.
7. Elevate Lemon Green Tea
Elevate Tea is not certified organic, but it is certified non-GMO. Their Lemon Green Tea flavor, which is a loose-leaf style tea, contains green tea, lemongrass, orange and lemon peels, and some other natural flavors.
As their website mentions, the caffeine content ranks at a medium level, and their tea only needs one to three minutes of steeping in your favorite reusable loose leaf tea brewer.
8. Yogi Green Teas
Yogi green teas are non-GMO and blended with USDA organic green tea leaves, high-quality fruits and botanicals, and flowers typically found in herbal tea blends (such as rose, hibiscus blossom, and passionflower).
They tout their sweet, fruity Green Tea Blueberry Slim Life as best for supporting a healthy dieting program if you have weight loss goals. The brand also sells a Green Tea Passion Fruit Matcha Tea (perfect for quick matcha green tea lattes sans sweeteners).
Most of their green teas contain around 20-35mg of caffeine per cup. But you’ll also find a Pure Green Decaf Tea that’s practically caffeine-free (at just 10mg of caffeine per tea bag).
9. Stash Green Tea
Stash Green Tea is a premium loose leaf green tea. Although it’s not certified organic, it is certified Kosher.
What’s interesting about Stash is that they grow their tea locally in Portland, Oregon, USA. Their tea artisans use traditional Japanese-style methods in their tea garden instead of sourcing tea leaves from China or Japan.
Plus, Stash is a B Corp, which means they put people, planet, and partners first before profits.
10. 365 Organic Green Tea
Whole Foods Market created their 365 Organic Green Tea as an insanely affordable option. You can purchase 70 tea bags for under $7, making it an affordable green tea for most people looking to capture all the health benefits this tea has to offer.
Their website mentions that their green tea variety grows in the hillsides of China’s tea estates. Each batch is hand-picked and gently steamed to create a light, airy flavor profile.
The next group of green tea brands also shares their affordable characteristic.
5 Runner-Up Green Tea Brands in 2021
If you’re new to green tea drinking and don’t have the budget for a premium option, affordable choices exist to expand your palate without spending a fortune to experiment.
However, some tea drinkers find that cheaper options tend to give off a grassy flavor or earthy flavor. So if you don’t fall in love with green tea after trying these next brands, you may want to switch to one of the premium options mentioned earlier. They’ll give you a better idea of what good green tea really tastes like.
So while the first 10 green tea brands are our top picks, these five runner-ups still deserve an honorable mention:
1. Bigelow Green Tea
You can find Bigelow’s Green Tea in almost every grocery store, Target, Walmart, and online at Amazon. It offers a light, mild entry into the world of green tea. And a box of 20 green tea bags only costs around three bucks. You’ll also find a caffeine-free version.
2. Uncle Lee’s Organic Green Tea
Uncle Lee’s is an affordable option for tea drinkers searching for organic green tea within budget. You’ll only need to fork over $9 to score 100 tea bags on Amazon. You can also find it at places like Walmart or your local grocery store, making it an accessible option for most people.
3. Harney & Sons Japanese Sencha Green Tea
Harney & Sons makes Japanese Sencha Green Tea that sits between the premium brands mentioned in the first half of this guide and the last two affordable brands just discussed. It’s a budget-friendly option steeped in history too.
The Harney family has been brewing tea since 1983, and they personally source their tea leaves from reputable tea makers and estates throughout Asia.
4. Tazo Zen Green Tea
Starbucks acquired the Tazo brand back in 1999 (before the coffee behemoth acquired Teavana for an estimated $620 million in 2012). While it’s not certified organic, it is certified Kosher and costs around $4 for 20 tea bags.
This variety is packed with notes of lemongrass, lemon verbena, and spearmint, making it another delicious option and especially yummy when iced.
5. Twinings Jasmine Green Tea
Twinings rounds out our list of affordable green tea brands. This London-based tea company has been around since 1706. They claim you won’t find any artificial ingredients in their green tea, as it’s been harvested and cultivated to their highest standards.
Brew a cup of their aromatic Jasmine Green Tea flavor, and you’ll taste pure green tea infused with real jasmine flowers, according to their website.
Looking for matcha green tea brands? There are so many companies selling this highly-praised green tea powder that we couldn’t cover all of them without tripling the size of this guide. So stay tuned for the best matcha brands roundup!
Final Thoughts on the Best Green Tea Brands in 2021
What’s the world’s best green tea brand? Whether you’re looking for caffeinated green tea or a caffeine-free tea packed with flavor, this list of the 15 best green tea brands has you covered.
We shared options ranging from high-quality organic teas to those you can pick up at your local grocery store for less than a fancy latte, proving it’s 100% possible to enjoy a cup of green tea no matter your budget.
Remember, the taste, purity, and antioxidant levels may be on a higher level when you choose a premium quality green tea brand. So it may not pay to go for the cheapest option if you’re strict about your health. Still, beginner tea drinkers can start here before deciding that the premium brands are truly worth the extra investment.
