Green Tea & what is Umami

The sweetness and umami of green tea is provided by amino acids. Umami is a loan word from the Japanese word umami (pleasant savoury taste). It is popularly referred to as 'savoriness'. Umami is one of the five basic tastes, together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. The umami taste itself is difficult to describe. 

Teas such as a green tea, black tea and oolong tea all originate from the leaf of the same tea plant, but variations in the production process result in differing beverages. Most of the tea drunk in China and Japan is unroasted green tea, where the essential elements of the tea plant are left largely in tact. Formerly, green tea was revered for its medicinal properties, and was a prestigious beverage that only people of a certain rank could consume. Because tea leaves have such high levels of nutrients, a practice of consuming the actual leaves themselves has come to light.