The place of origin of Japanese Green Tea is actually China. This may come as a surprising fact for many people. People of China who were much ahead of Japanese were using Green Tea prior to the Japanese even knowing about it.
Green tea was being taken in China as far back as ninth century. The Buddhist monks from Japan who visited China for learning purpose learned about green tea and brought it home as a drink for the Japanese people.
The green tea shrub with its number of advantages were found by the Buddhists monks who visited China to study and learned that this shrub is beneficial for health. They decided to start using it for varied purpose.
It became the most popular drink as it was heavily patronized. The Japanese were also quick to realize the medicinal benefits of green tea and got straight down to extracting the maximum benefits from green tea.
The experimental ground for green tea was the temples of Buddhist monks. As they were the first to discover it, they announced green tea as their authorized drink. This fragrant blend next catered to the aristocrats of Japanese society.
The Japanese green tea revolution
For a couple of centuries Japan continued to import all the green tea that it needed from China. Eventually it brought over green tea seeds and began its own cultivation in the land. This change is what brought about the green tea revolution in Japan.
The availability of green tea seeds made it possible for the Japanese masses to grow their own green tea. Thus Japan saw a great rise in the intake of green tea amongst the Japanese people.
Once the Japanese started using green tea steadily they started discovering all its benefits which led them to make it their official drink. The health benefits and medicinal properties of green tea pushed them even more.
Traditionally green tea was cultivated in the shade. After collecting the leaves they underwent a steaming procedure which is what makes it different from the ordinary black tea which is fermented rather than steamed
The beneficial features of green tea which it retains comes from the practice of steaming the leaves rather than fermenting them. Later they are dried up and powdered
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Interesting article. I truly believe that the heath benefits of green (and black) tea made the Chinese and Japanese cultures so much more enlightened than the beer and coffee drinkers of Europe and the U.S.