Tea Blog

All tea is not created equal. If you’ve been drinking tea for even a short time, you’ve likely already discovered this for yourself.

Now, far be it from me to suggest that health should be the primary factor when selecting a tea. While tea has been associated with a wide range of black tea health benefits and wellness properties, I’ve always believed the most important consideration is flavor. In fact, my top three priorities are simple: flavor, flavor, and flavor.

That said, it certainly doesn’t hurt if tea offers additional benefits along the way—though perhaps not quite as dramatic as curing something like historical illnesses such as the bubonic plague.

Still, if you ever find yourself choosing between black tea and green tea varieties known for lighter flavor and high antioxidant content, and all other factors are equal, you might consider findings from scientific research.

In one study published in The Journal of Nutrition scientific publication on diet and health research, Korean researchers compared green tea and black tea using standard tea bags. They found that the antioxidant capacity per serving of green tea was significantly higher than that of black tea.

The reported values showed green tea with approximately 436 mg vitamin C equivalents per serving, compared to about 239 mg for black tea. The researchers concluded that green tea offers a higher antioxidant potential, largely due to differences in composition and concentration of beneficial compounds.

If your primary goal in choosing a tea is maximizing potential health benefits, these findings suggest that green tea may have an edge.

For more details and access to the full research, see this full study on antioxidant differences between green and black tea.

Don’t forget to visit Tea Guy Speaks blog featuring tea insights and commentary for more tea-related discussions.