The market prices for green Tea vary widely, with many types available from several dozen yuan per kilogram to several hundred yuan per kilogram. Of course, there are also green teas priced in the hundreds to thousands of yuan per kilogram. When selecting green tea, choose a price point suitable for your situation. Additionally, to prevent merchants from passing off inferior products as high-quality ones, learning methods to identify the quality of green tea can be very helpful.

The Price of Green Tea per Kilogram

Generally, the price of green tea ranges from 120 yuan to 2,000 yuan per kilogram. In daily life, the price of green tea consumed by ordinary families is around 80 to 200 yuan per kilogram. High-quality green tea made from one bud and two leaves can cost between 200 and 400 yuan per kilogram. Some more premium bud-only green teas can be priced from 400 to 800 yuan per kilogram. The price for gift-worthy green tea starts at a similar range. More famous green teas, such as West Lake Longjing, Dongting Biluochun, and Xinyang Maojian, typically have prices starting at over 2,000 yuan per kilogram. As for those handcrafted by experienced masters, their prices can soar to over ten thousand yuan per kilogram.

2. The price of West Lake Longjing green tea ranges from 200 to 8,000 yuan. The lowest price for West Lake Longjing tea is around 200 yuan, and you can purchase high-quality West Lake Longjing tea for around a few thousand yuan. However, the 200 to 8,000 yuan price range is not the final market price due to variations in factors such as components and distribution channels. As a result, the final price consumers pay for West Lake Longjing tea will differ.

3. First-grade Dongting Mountain Biluochun costs around 1,800 yuan per kilogram, while special first-grade Dongting Mountain Biluochun averages around 8,000 yuan per kilogram. If we exclude the mention of Dongting and focus solely on Biluochun, there are more options. Cheaper varieties can be bought for about 70 to 80 yuan per kilogram, better quality ones for over 200 yuan, and top-quality ones for over 800 yuan. These prices are common in the market.

4. Ordinary green tea can be purchased for around 10 to 30 yuan per kilogram. This type of green tea is generally produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and other regions and is a common variety. It is relatively inexpensive and suitable for everyday consumption.

How to Select Good Quality Green Tea

1. Examine the Appearance

Check if the tea leaves are intact and observe any broken fragments. Assess whether the color of the dry tea is bright, lustrous, and glossy. Severely broken dry tea can affect the taste of the tea soup. Bright, lustrous, and glossy colors indicate the quality and freshness of the tea, as the essence of drinking green tea lies in its aroma, tenderness, and freshness. Generally, green tea picked before the Qingming Festival is considered top-quality.

2. Scent the Aroma

The aroma of tea can be divided into the fragrance of the dry tea and the aroma after brewing. When selecting tea, primarily evaluate the purity, type, intensity, and persistence of the aroma released after brewing. For daily selection, pour a small amount of boiling water over the dry tea to stimulate its fragrance, which can provide a better effect when sniffed.

3. Observe the Color and Taste the Flavor

Evaluate the color, brightness, and clarity of the tea soup after brewing and straining. Generally, clear and bright tea soup is preferred. For example, the ideal color for high-quality green teas like Enshi Yulü is a tender green hue, and brightness should be clear and bright. Some tender teas contain a lot of downy hairs (fuzz), such as Maojian, which results in a layer of fuzz floating on the surface of the tea soup after brewing, commonly known as “fuzzy turbidity,” which is also a standard for good tea.

4. Inspect the Leaf Base

The color and softness of the leaf base can reflect the age of the fresh leaves used. The brightness or dullness of the leaf base often corresponds to the brightness or murkiness of the tea soup. Softer leaf bases indicate that the fresh leaves used were relatively tender, while coarser and harder leaf bases suggest older leaves. When assessing the softness, thickness, and tenderness of the leaf base, direct observation can be supplemented with finger pressing and even biting to test the texture.