Double Dragon Organic Green Tea

Author's product rating:   

Value for money	Good
Product Quality	Excellent
Product package	Excellent
Taste	Delicious
How loyal are you to this brand?	Very

Advantages:	Full of antioxidants and health benefits
Disadvantages:	Not to everyones taste, can be difficult to get used to

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I love healthy living and take great pleasure in looking after my body with nutritious foods, plenty of excersize and cleansing my system with herbal teas.

I had heard that Green Tea was an especially good tea with many healing and antioxidant properties. That was enough to insipre me to go down to my local Holland and Barrat shop and browse their extensive range of healthy teas. They had a number of different types of Green Tea, but I liked the look of the Double Dragon Green Tea (with added Ginko Biloba). At £1.99 for a box of 25 tea bags (that's a net weight of 50g), it wasn't the cheapest variety there, but I was worried that if I bought a cheap one the taste would be revolting.

The teabags are packaged in a mint-green rectangle box with a lid that tucks inside. It is decorated with Chinese-style black and dark-green shapes on the top and front side panels of the box. On the same two panels is the Double Dragon logo, which is comprised of two black Chinese dragons facing one another. Underneath this is a block of red colour with the word 'Double' printed on in white, Chinese-style bold font; under this is a black block of colour with the word 'Dragon' printed on in gold, Chinese-style font. Under the trademark and logo it says "Green Tea with Ginko Biloba" in a dark green box in gold letters. The box is surrounded with two gold parallel lines. This logo, trademark and caption also feature on the two side square panels of the box. It is very attractive and caught my eye instantly as it stood out from the other varieties on the shelf.

The underside of the box has the Best Before date, storage instructions and an English forwarding address for the Chinese company. It states that the Tea is produce of China. All of this information is neatly displayed in two boxes, echoing the Chinese style in its decoration.

The back of the box again has two neat, stylish boxes; in one box are the brewing instructions and ingredients; in the other is a little bit of information about the Teas.

When I opened the box I was pleased to see that each teabag was individually wrapped. The paper wrappers were white with a plainer version of the logo detailed on the front and a smaller version on the back. The teabags are quite small and attached to a string with a paper dunker on the end (detailed with the logo). I boiled the kettle amd followed the brewing instructions, which advise you to to use one bag per cup for the best taste, and to allow to brew for 1-2 minutes before removing the tea bag. It recommends that the subtle flavour of the tea is best appreciated without the addition of milk or sugar.

I sat back and waited until it had cooled enough for me to sip. The first sip was strange...I had never tried Green Tea before and didn't expect the taste to be so different from my regular black tea. I tried it again and it slowly grew on me. It is hard to describe the taste and I'm drinking a cup as I write so I can try and portray it as best as possible. It has a soft, delicate yet distinctive, slightly herbal taste and the smell is reminiscent of the same. It has a slightly unusual, though pleasant after-taste which you really start to enjoy after a while. Sometimes it can taste a little bitter, especially if it's been over brewed or you get a duff teabag, though I have always found this brand to be brilliant and haven't come across a duff yet. The cheaper brands, I have found, tend to be less delicate in flavour and are not as enjoyable. I've tried four or five others (which I've gulped down hastily in desparate effort to get rid of them!) but this remains my favourite. It has 100% pure Green Tea ingredients (with added Ginko Biloba in some varieties) and are organic, whereas the cheaper brands often use other leaves or chemicals to improve the shelf-life or make them sweeter. It is a medium, slightly murky green colour, slightly cloudy, though you can still see the bottom of the cup.

As I've developed a taste for Green Tea I have found that adding a little Soya Milk takes the slightly bitter edge off it and makes a more comforting beverage.

I have been drinking Green Tea on a regular basis now (at least two cups per day) for about 18 months and have experienced several health benefits. My skin is much clearer and healtier looking, I don't have any bowel or stomach discomfort that i used to suffer and my digestive system works quicker. My local Chinese medicine shop endorse the qualities and properties of Green Tea and say it is much more popular in China than the british favourite black tea, and certainly has more health benefits.

On the back of the box it says a little bit about the properties of both Green Tea and Ginko Biloba (one of the other ingredients in this particular variety) claiming Green Tea is at the forefront of antioxidant protection and that it can help to neautralise harmful excess free radicals in the body. Indeed, I have read/heard a lot in recent months of people claiming that Green Tea can even help in reducing the risk of cancer when ingested on a regular, daily basisI could extol the virtues of Green Tea for pages, but instead I'll just recommend you try it for yourself and the proof will be in your improvement.

If at first you don't like the taste brew it for less time, just until your taste buds adapt. If this fails add a little Soya milk as this softens the taste. If this also fails just try and persevere! This is a good brand to try if you have never had it before because of its gentle, delicate yet distinct flavour. Go on, get healthy!