Which green tea to choose: types of green tea in Peru, five compared in the cup
Four Chinese teas and one Peruvian: Long Jing from Hangzhou, Bi Lou Chun from Lake Taihu, Maofeng and Taiping Houkui from Anhui, Pacha Alpaquita from Huyro, Cusco. All five in 30 g boxes.
Do not look for a brand, look for the leaf: Long Jing is the mildest, with chestnut; Bi Lou Chun, floral and fine; Maofeng, the easiest to start with; Taiping Houkui, very long leaf and clean taste; the Peruvian from Huyro, more herbal. All in a 30 g box from S/ 40, and all five can be compared in the cup in Písac.
5.0 ★ on Google — 76 reviews
Welcome to our tea house in Písac, Sacred Valley: thermos tea is on us during opening hours, no booking needed. The tea menu is paid and ceremonies are by appointment. You can also pick up your order here.
Callao 200, Písac · 09:00–19:00, closed Mondays
Yape and Plin · shipping S/ 20 anywhere in Peru, free from S/ 150 · 2 to 4 business days · pickup in Písac
See the teasFive teas · China and Peru
Green tea
Five teas: four Chinese and one Peruvian. All in 30 g boxes.
Green tea: leaf heated the same day it is picked
Green is not a different plant. It is what happens to the leaf in the first hours: it is heated in a wok or with steam, oxidation stops, and the leaf stays fresh, grassy, nutty, with a sweetness that returns.
In the cup it shows up like this: pale colour, the smell of cut grass and chestnut, a sweet finish. Nothing like the dry, harsh taste of a tea bag — that is dust from broken leaf, and this is whole leaf that holds three or four brews in a row.
We keep five greens on the shelf: four Chinese — Long Jing from Zhejiang, Bi Lou Chun from Jiangsu, Maofeng and Taiping Houkui from Anhui — and one Peruvian, Pacha Alpaquita, leaf from Huyro, La Convención Valley, Cusco. If you have never had loose green tea, start with a sample: that way you find yours without buying a whole bag.
Green is a daytime tea: it wakes you evenly and sits light. If you want something softer and sweeter for the evening, look at white; if you want body and honey, red.
Water75–80 °C
Three or four brews
Whenmorning and afternoon
On the shelf5 greens
What green tea is for — and what we do not promise
It is the most searched question in Peru. Honest answer: to drink something good in the middle of the morning or the middle of the afternoon. The rest we do not promise — tea is food, not medicine.
Tastecut grass, chestnut, a sweet finish that returns
How it drinksthree or four brews in a row; the second is usually the best
What the leaf holdscatechins and polyphenols — that is composition, not a promised effect
Whenmorning and afternoon; for the end of the day, better a white tea
On an empty stomachbetter not, it can sit heavy; half an hour after food is easier
What we do not promiseweight loss, cures, "detox". If that is what you want, do not buy it for that
ImportantClaims about properties have not been evaluated by a health authority; tea is a food.
"Green tea for weight loss": what is true and what is not
We do not promise it makes you lose weight. We say it plainly, because that is what people search for most and what gets promised most.
What you can actually check in your own cup: tea on its own has no sugar and no calories if you add nothing. Swapping a soda or a frappé for a cup of green takes sugar out of your day — that is arithmetic, not a health promise.
The second thing is real too, and there is nothing magic about it: leaf tea is drunk slowly. One brewing is three or four cups in a row from the same leaf, and that fills a whole afternoon without snacking.
If someone sells you tea by naming kilos, do not trust it. We sell flavour: whole leaf, an origin with a name, and a sample to try first.
How to brew green tea at home
The only expensive mistake is boiling water. Everything else sorts itself out.
Water at 75–80 °C
If it has boiled, leave the kettle open for three or four minutes. Boiling water scorches green leaf and pulls out bitterness, and that cannot be fixed afterwards.
One heaped teaspoon per cup
About 3 g per 200 ml. More leaf does not make it stronger, only rougher.
Two minutes the first time
Taste and decide. If you like it softer, take the leaf out earlier; green never needs more than three minutes.
Brew it again
The same leaf holds three or four times, and each one tastes different: the second is usually the sweetest. Throwing the leaf away after one cup throws away three quarters of the tea.
Cold, with lemon, over ice
Písac is sunny by day and cold at night; the same tea works for both. Three ways that suit whole leaf.
Cold brew in a jug (no boiling)
One tablespoon of leaf per litre of cold water, in the fridge for six hours or overnight. It comes out sweet and without bitterness, because cold does not pull tannins. Keeps two days covered.
With lemon
Add it at the end, in the cup, not in the pot: acid lightens the colour and covers the leaf aroma if they cook together. Half a slice per cup is enough.
Over ice, quickly
Brew with double the leaf for two minutes and pour it over a glass full of ice. The cold shock keeps the aroma — it is the impatient version of cold brew.
Note
Cold green is already sweet without sugar; that comes from the leaf. If you still want it sweet, a touch of honey at the end, once it is cold.
Who should be careful
Can I drink green tea while pregnant?
Ask your doctor; there is no other serious answer. Tea is not water, and this should come from whoever is looking after you, not from a web page.
Will it keep me awake?
It can, like coffee: tea wakes you. Drink it until mid-afternoon and that is that.
Can I drink it with medication?
Your doctor decides that, not us. Tea is not a neutral food.
Why does it sometimes sit heavy?
Almost always from drinking it on an empty stomach or too strong. Half an hour after food, one teaspoon per cup, and it passes.
Can children drink it?
That is for parents and the paediatrician. At home it usually ends up as a very weak cup, or no tea at all.
All tea comes from one plant: Camellia sinensis
The type of tea is set not by the plant variety but by the technique: how long the leaf oxidised, how that was stopped, how it was rolled, roasted and aged. The same leaf becomes white or pu-erh: the difference is the master's hands and the hours. Tap a type and we'll show what's on the shelf.
fresh leaffully oxidised and aged
Build your set
Ready sets of three samples — or build your own. A set costs less than buying separately.
Or build your own
Samples are different teas on one table: China, Taiwan and the Cusco valley.
One evening, one gaiwan, and you know which tea is yours without buying full bags.
Three samples: 5 % off; six: 10 %.
Ready sets with one tap:
Chinese tea
Two matchas and hojicha
Two matchas — matcha and ceremonial matcha — and hojicha for the evening. The ceremonial matcha is sweeter and more finely ground; the matcha is for every day, milk included.
What matcha is made with
Bowl, whisk and scoop — handmade by us. Each piece carries its own number.
Accessories for the Japanese tea ceremony
Chawan, chasen and chashaku — bowl, whisk and measuring scoop. Bought together with matcha.
Teaware
Handmade by us: cups, teapots, gaiwans, shiboridashi, chahai, matcha bowls and tea pets. Every piece has its number.
Looking for manzanilla, muña or hierba luisa?
We don't have them — and we say so plainly. We keep tea leaf: white, green, oolong, red, pu-erh. Tell us what you wanted the herb for and we'll pick the leaf that does the same, only tastier.
What did you want the herb for?
instead of manzanilla
White tea: soft, honeyed — a tea for the evening.
Santa Paca — white leaf from Cusco. Water at 80 °C, three minutes, can be brewed twice.
instead of emoliente, boldo
Pu-erh: dark, dense, 'earthy' — what people in China drink after a heavy meal.
Shu pu-erh is never bitter or sour; 12 g lasts a week of dinners.
instead of muña
Floral oolong: fresh, energising without jitters, seven infusions from one spoon.
Tie Guan Yin is the most recognizable oolong, with a lilac note.
instead of hierba luisa
Green leaf from the Peruvian highlands: fresh, grassy, with a lemon note.
Pacha Alpaquita — green from Cusco. Water at 80 °C, never boiling.
instead of mate de coca
Peruvian red: strong, sweet, from the Cusco mountains — for the morning.
Vicuña Roja — red leaf from Cusco; wakes you up like coffee, without the edge.
It's not a herb — it's leafCamellia sinensis: herbs are brewed once, tea leaf holds several infusions.
Sample from S/ 12Less than a cup of coffee. If you don't like it, you've lost S/ 12, not a whole pack.
Brewing is easier than it looksA mug, a spoon of leaf, water below boiling. Temperature and time are on the packet.
We confirm your order on WhatsApp
Delivery across Peru or pickup in Písac — whichever suits you.
Put your order together
Tick the teas and sizes: the list goes off in a single message and you fill in nothing.
We confirm and you pay
A person confirms availability. You pay by Yape, Plin or bank transfer; cash on pickup.
What comes with your order
Two conditions, and both are simple.
A free sample with your first order
If this is your first order with us, we add a sample on top. No need to choose it — we pick it for you.
Free delivery from S/ 150
An order from one hundred and fifty soles ships across Peru at our cost. Below that, delivery is S/ 20.
Our tea house in Pisac
Sacred Valley, Callao 200. You can come without booking and drink any tea from the menu: we will tell you how to brew it and what makes it different. Tea from the thermos is on us during opening hours. Ceremonies are by appointment. You can also pick up your order here.
AddressCallao 200, Písac 08106
Hours09:00–19:00, closed Mondays
Tea menupaid and no booking needed: come and drink any tea, we explain the brewing and the differences
Tea from the thermosfree, during opening hours
Ceremoniesby appointment: gongfu cha and pin cha tasting
Eventstea evenings and gongfu cha ceremonies; the calendar is on Instagram. At open events there is sometimes a free tasting.
Pickuppick up your order right here, no delivery
Rating5.0 ★ · 76 Google reviews
Questions about green tea
What is green tea good for?
For making your morning or mid-afternoon taste of something. That is what we can honestly say: it does not cure, does not slim and cleans nothing. Swap it for a soda and what changes is the sugar in your day — arithmetic, not a promise.
Which green tea is best?
The one you taste. Long Jing for mild and chestnut; Bi Lou Chun for floral; Maofeng to start; Taiping Houkui for something clean and unusual; the Huyro one if you want a Peruvian.
Why is my green tea bitter?
Almost always boiling water. At 75–80 °C for two minutes it is not. The second cause is too much leaf: a teaspoon per cup is enough.
Do you have green tea with ginger or lemon?
We sell the leaf on its own. Ginger and lemon go into the cup at the end, not into the pot: otherwise they cover the aroma of the leaf.
Where can I buy loose leaf green tea in Peru?
On WhatsApp, shipped nationwide for S/ 20 and free from S/ 150; or in person at Callao 200, Písac, Cusco, 09:00–19:00 except Mondays.
Are there green tea samples?
Not today. All five come in a 30 g box, the smallest format we have for them. Samples do exist for oolong, red tea and pu-erh.
What people ask before ordering
Six answers to the doubts that most often stop the click.
How to order
Build your order and send the list on WhatsApp in one message: we confirm availability, you pay after.
How much is delivery
Courier across Peru: Cusco S/ 12, Lima S/ 18, other regions S/ 20. Free delivery from S/ 150. Pickup in Písac — free.
Can I pick it up myself
Yes, at the tea house in Pisac: Callao 200, 09:00–19:00, closed Mondays.
What if I don't like the tea
Tea is food and can't be returned. That's why there are S/ 12 samples — so you don't risk a whole pack.
Do you have herbal teas
We keep tea leaf, not herbs: no manzanilla, muña or hierba luisa. For something gentle, take white or oolong.
Do you have a complaints book
Yes, the Libro de Reclamaciones is a separate page.
For cafés, restaurants, apartments, shops — and business owners
Distribution prices on leaf, matcha and utensils. Chinese classics, Peruvian tea, matcha and utensils — from a single supplier.
Tea your neighbours don't have
Peruvian leaf from Cusco on the drinks menu — something your guest has almost certainly never tried.
One supplier instead of three
Chinese classics, Peruvian tea, matcha and teaware come from one person: one invoice, one delivery.
Service and teaware
Gaiwans, teapots and cups for your service — some handmade, from our own workshop.
