Caffeine in Green Tea

How much Caffeine in Japanese Green Tea?

Caffeine in green tea are in general said to be one third of coffee. Caffeine in green tea is said to provide the bitter flavor. This caffeine in green tea will depend on when it was picked. Younger spring green teas are said to contain more caffeine, so high end Japanese green teas such as matcha and gyokuro will contain more caffeine. 

   

Caffeine Compared to Black Tea and Coffee

Japanese green tea is about 1/3rd of caffeine compared to coffee and slightly less than black tea.


*Source: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(JAPAN) “STANDARD TABLES OF FOOD COMPOSITION IN JAPAN”




Caffeine among the different type of Japanese Green Tea

The very well known premium tea leaves, Gyokuro will have the most amount with 160mg. Next will be the matcha green tea containing 30 mg relatively very low. Sencha and Houjicha will have 20 mg and genmaicha will have the least caffeine with 10mg. 

Type of Japanese Green Tea Amount of Caffeine (in 100g)
Gyokuro 160mg
Matcha

30mg

Sencha

20mg

Houjicha

20mg

Genmaicha

10mg

Source: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of JAPAN


The amount of caffeine that will be in your tea will depend on how you brew the tea, so please use the chart above for reference. As for Japanese green tea, it will be better to brew it at a shorter time to avoid many caffeine to be extracted. The longer you brew basically the more you get the caffeine.

If there are any questions please feel free to ask anytime.

Thank you!

 

Related Products

>ShiZen Tea's Japanese Sencha Green Tea

>ShiZen Tea's Japanese Matcha Green Tea Powder

 

 About the Author:

   Yosuke Aso (Owner of ShiZen Tea)

I'm the founder of ShiZen Tea, a Japanese tea company based in Tokyo. As a young child, I had an opportunity to experience Japanese tea ceremony since my mother was into Sado back then. For more than 7 years of study of Japanese tea, I have gone to many tea farms and factories around Japan. Through the study, I have gained concrete knowledge of Japanese tea and been certified as the Japanese Tea Adviser. We have hand selected teas from around Japan and currently selling as our brand, ShiZen Tea. We also specialize in brewing/infusing Japanese tea, as we have served many customers in Japan through our cafe. Please check out our teas as well! Thank you!