Green Tea Essay

Tea was discovered in its greenest form over five thousand years ago; some versions of history depict a flower falling into a cup of hot water while another has a man eating a leaf and releasing how delicious it would be stepped in water. For centuries, all tea was green tea. Green tea is simply the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant placed to steep in hot water. The leaves had not undergone any of the oxidation process of tea leaves today, so it was tea in its most natural form. This version of green tea is still enjoyed around the world today as are many other versions of the same tea leaf.

Green tea was first brought to Japan in 805 A.D. by two Buddhist monks, Saicho and Kukai, who after studying in abroad in China returned with some

the Ogura area of Uji in Kyoto, Shigejyuro Eguchi perfected the Gyokuro processing method based on the process that was currently being used to process Sencha, invented by Sohen Nagatani in 1738. The tea leaves used for Gyokuro were the same as those used for Tencha. (Tea leaves used for Matcha, before they are ground into fine powder, but after stems and veins are removed, are known as Tencha.)

On the other hand, the use of tea leaves first originated in China more three thousand years ago, and was likely initially used by people just for chewing and eating, in just the same way that coffee was first used by people eating the beans directly in Ethiopia. Over time, the use of leaves and buds from the tea tree gradually expanded as people began to use in cooking and when added to boiling water to flavour the water they drunk.

During the period of the Wei Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties (AD 220-589), the popularity of drinking tea soared and tea slowly changed from a luxury item into a drink commonly consumed by the public, as simple basic drying processes were introduced that increased its availability and allowed the introduction of scented teas, which helped lessen the bitterness green teas had at that