TWININGS Gunpowder Tea

Gunpowder green tea is a kind of Chinese green tea which is manufactured in a province called Zhejiang in China. It is very easy to identify this kind of tea because the leaves are rolled into small round pellets. The reason why this kind of tea is called ‘gunpowder‘ is because it looks very much similar to black powder grains. An interesting fact here is that the method that is applied to rolling this type of green tea is used in rolling other dried green tea too, like the Oolong tea. The pellet size of the tea determines the quality of the tea. The larger the pellet, the lower its quality and vice-versa. Tightly rolled and shiny pellets are also considered to be of top quality. 

 I was so very excited when I found this Twinings loose leaf tea at the scratch and dent store!!!  It was just $1.00!

 

http://www.twiningsusashop.com/gunpowder-green.html

on line this tin of 100g sells for $4.49

 A rich blend of Green Gunpowder teas from the Orient with a clear fragrance liquor

(see the tight rolls)

The making of Gunpowder green tea is a bit complex in comparison to the manufacturing process of other types of tea. The tea leaves are first plucked and then it goes through several processes like withering, steaming, rolling and finally drying. Earlier, each of the leaves were rolled by hand but today, thanks to the advancement in terms of science and technology, the gunpowder tea leaves are rolled by machines. However, one will still be able to find hand-rolled gunpowder tea leaves in the market. The method of manually rolling the leaves is still followed in case of high quality gunpowder tea.
There is a reason behind the rolling of these leaves, it is for the purpose of enabling the tea leaves to retain its aroma and flavor. Moreover, they are less vulnerable to physical breakage or damage when they are in the form of pellets.

There are many advantages or benefits offered by the Gunpowder green tea. The tea is an astringent (a mild one), which means that it can constrict the tissues or draw them together. Thus, because of this, gunpowder tea is used by people who are experiencing problems pertaining to the digestive tract. Gunpowder tea has the ability to smooth out any kind of digestion problems.
Apart from the above mentioned primary advantage, gunpowder tea is also free of calorie, gluten and fats therefore it can be consumed without any guilt. It reduces the amount of cholesterol in a person’s body and also increases metabolism. Therefore it is right for those people who are reducing weight. Another advantage offered by this tea is that it increases endurance and it is a powerful anti-aging and anti-oxidant agent. One can also consume the tea for the purpose of uplifting oneself and increasing one’s focus and mental awareness.

 

 

see how the leaves "unroll"

I am not sure if I am missing out, but I did not like the tea.  I tried it twice and I just did not like the flavor.  I will try one more time :)  I know some people really like Gunpowder, and I want to like it, but I just thought it was to strong.