Tea is liquid wisdom
“Where there’s tea, there is Hope !”
The Origin Story
The origin of green tea began in China, tracing back to 2737 B.C. The discovery occurred by accident when the Chinese Emperor Shennong mistakenly drank water that had a dead tea leaf boiled in it. He found the flavor refreshing, and thus, a new beverage was born. Green tea was primarily available to the highest tiers of Chinese society and was very expensive to purchase. It was not until the 14th century that green tea became accessible to the general public for enjoyment and medicinal purposes.
Green Tea Types & Variants
Chinese Green Teas
Longjing or Dragonwell is pan-fried and has flat sword-shaped leaves. It has a vibrant jade green hue and a fresh, clean and mellow flavor and aroma.
Gunpowder gets its distinctive name because of the process in which it is made. The leaves are hand-shaped into small spheres that resemble gunpowder and with its slightly brisk and smoky flavor, it really is quite a fitting name. As the primary ingredient in Moroccan Mint tea, gunpowder helps to round out the flavor by balancing out the sharpness of the mint.
Yun Wu or Cloud & Mist is harvested at a much higher altitude, smothered in clouds. The resulting cup has a light and slightly sweet taste.
Japanese Green Teas
Gyokuro, or Jade Dew tea, is the most precious and highly sought after green tea. Select Tencha leaves are shade-grown for up to 20 days then harvested and promptly steamed to maintain elevated levels of chlorophyll. The resulting cup steeps a bright green color with a sweet, grassy finish.
Sencha is the most common green tea from Japan and is also the base for many of our green tea fusions. Unlike Gyokuro, Sencha leaves are directly exposed to sunlight.
Kukicha, or twig tea, is comprised of twigs, stems, and stalks. Usually, this tea consists of the remnants of the gyokuro and sencha harvest. This tea is slightly roasted and is a bit more oxidized than most green teas, giving the tea a nutty taste with a round, thick flavor.
Matcha is a finely ground tea powder made from Tencha leaves.
Tencha is a shade cultivated tea and is harvested primarily for matcha production.
Genmaicha, popularly known as “popcorn tea” is made with green tea and roasted brown rice.
Hojicha is unique in that it is not steamed like most Japanese teas but is actually roasted over charcoal.
Green Tea Today
While green tea has been consumed longer than any other variant of the camellia sinensis plant, the ways in which it is processed haven’t really changed. In many tea producing countries, green teas are still hand-harvested and hand-shaped, and in some cases with the help of very simple age-old machinery that has been passed down from generation to generation. The ways in which it is consumed, however, have changed drastically.
It wasn’t until the late 19th century that green tea made its way into European and more western cultures. Until the invention of the clipper ship, western cultures were only familiar with black teas, which were the result of freshly harvested green teas that were usually transported via camelback for months at a time by traveling merchants.
These merchants would set up camp night after night, exposing the tea to their nearby campfires, therefore permeating the leaves and giving them a more charred appearance and taste. With the invention of the clipper ships, teas could be transported in less than half the time, allowing them to arrive in a more preserved and unprocessed state. This new method of transport revolutionized the way tea, and green tea, in particular, were perceived and experienced forever.
Today, green tea can be found everywhere in the mainstream marketplace in forms from loose leaf to powdered (known as matcha), and in other consumables, such as baked goods and breath fresheners.