Japanese Green Tea

Many people would actually be surprised to know that Japanese green tea actually originated from China. That’s right; it was their highly advanced neighbors who were making use of green tea well before the Japanese ever got exposed to it…

The Chinese had been making use of green tea since the ninth century. It was through the Buddhist monks of Japan who went to China to study and brought the tea back home on their return that green tea made its way into the Japanese tea cup.

During their study period in China the Japanese Buddhist monks discovered the wonderful shrub and its many benefits. The Japanese were marveled by the drink and instantly began making use of it for various purposes. 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.

Hence Buddhist temples became a laboratory for green tea experiments. Monks were the foremost to make use of green tea as it became the official drink of the temples. The aristocrats were next in line to fall in love with this rather exquisite blend. Soon enough you had the Samurais sipping on green tea as it made its way to the streets.

The green tea revolution in Japan

For a couple of centuries Japan continued to import all the green tea that it consumed 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. As prior to this time it was only the wealthy people who could afford importing green tea on a regular basis because it cost a lot of money.

With green tea seeds at hand many people began cultivating their own green tea. This resulted in a wide spread consumption of green tea amongst the general masses. The more the people made use of green tea the more they became aware of the health benefits that it had. With time green tea established itself as the official drink of the Japanese which they used to promote the well being of the body as well as for specific medicinal purposes.

Traditionally green tea was grown in the shade. After collecting the leaves they underwent a steaming process which is what makes it different from the ordinary black tea which is fermented rather than steamed. The fact that green tea undergoes the steaming process rather than the fermenting process is what enables it to retain its beneficial properties. After being steamed green tea is ground and then dried into a powder.

Today Japan is considered to be the second largest exporter of green tea in the world today. Recent years have seen a sharp increase in demand for Japanese green tea. This has given Japan an opportunity to capitalize and at the same time the world is being supplied with high quality green tea with all its health benefits.