Home › Dialogues › Questions › A loose leaf tea comparable to “Tazo – China Green Tips” › Re: A loose leaf tea comparable to “Tazo – China Green Tips”
I also drank this type of tea-bag tea when I was in the West, but never the loose leaf tea. If you look at their website, it is basically a “maofeng” tea from Zhejiang, but (of course) not a great quality one. So basically, a Chinese green tea that is roasted or baked should be fine. The flavor of it is more green and vegetal than some Chinese teas like Longjing, and probably with a stronger flavor than a baked green tea like Huangshan Maofeng.
From Tea Hong, I would recommend Tianshan April Mist (greener), or Silver Curls Spring (more balanced). If you have difficulties making it taste as good as Tazo’s China Green Tips, I think it is probably related to how the tea is being prepared. Try different temperatures, different amounts of leaves, different steeping time… Eventually you will get a grasp of the basic principle and you can make the tea however you like. Personally, I make my green tea so it tastes quite light, green, and fresh. This requires water at a little lower temperature, fewer tea leaves, and the right type of drinkware to prepare it.
In general, though, any good quality Chinese roasted green tea may be a fine substitute. Many quite ordinary roasted green teas of good quality are sold off as Biluochun or Huangshan Maofeng, despite the fact that they are not really anything special or distinct. Nevertheless, they can be quite good general green tea. They are twisted into small curls, and often have some silvery hairs.

