Green Tea is an ancient drink that is still holding strong as popularity continues to grow. It’s a preferred beverage in Asia and has found its place in many places throughout the world. Commonly found in food and dessert recipes, the far east has woven its influence across the globe.
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Going back to 2737 B.C. China, we’re taking a trip to the beginning of Green Tea. As I’ve explained before here, all tea come from the Camellia sinensis plant but green is a little different because of the way its processed. It is unoxidized, which means the leaves are not exposed to air to speed up the drying process. Fully oxidized leaves turn black or brown. Unoxidized tea retain their green color, offering its namesake.
During the Han dynasty, it was used as an energy booster and had whole laundry list of medical claims. However, it wasn’t until the Tang Dynasty about 400 years later that the leaf was used for pleasure or recreationally. It was then spread to Japan by a Zen priest visiting China, which ultimately brought it to the Western world.
Today there are a ton of variations of this special tea. Taste wise, they all differ pretty tremendously from each other, but they all do have similar notes. Clean, grassy, vegetal, earthy and floral are the most common notes that describe green tea. Depending on the cultivation, processing and brewing methods, the flavor profiles turn the same leaf into a multitude of taste experiences. It’s truly a multifaceted leaf that has single handedly changed culture as we know it today.
I buy most of my green tea here at Mountain Rose Herbs. They source their ingredients from farms that focus on organic growing and/or fair-trade ethics. They are a great resource for high quality herbs and make ethical farming a major priority.