Mainland China and Taiwan Loose leaf green tea has been the most popular form of tea in China since at least the
Southern Song dynasty. While Chinese green tea was originally steamed, as it still is in Japan, after the early
Ming dynasty it has typically been processed by being pan-fired in a dry wok. Other processes employed in China today include oven-firing, basket-firing, tumble-drying and sun-drying. Green tea is the most widely produced form of tea in China, with 1.42 million tons grown in 2014. Popular green teas produced in China today include: •
Green Snail Spring (碧螺春,
Bì luó chūn) Produced in
Jiangsu, this tea is named after the shape of the leaves, which are curled like snails. •
Precious Eyebrows (珍眉,
zhēn méi) Known in English by its Cantonese name, and popular outside China. It has a plum-like flavour. •
Gunpowder tea (珠茶,
zhū chá) "Pearl tea", also called Gunpowder tea, is a form of tea which is tumble-dried so that each leaf is rolled into a small pellet that resembles
gunpowder. •
Yellow Mountain Fur Peak (黄山毛峰,
huángshān máofēng) A type of
maofeng tea grown in the
microclimate of the
Huangshan mountain range in
Anhui province.
Maofeng teas are harvested by plucking intact two equal-sized leaves and a bud together. •
Dragon Well (龍井茶,
lóngjǐng)Grown near
Hangzhou in
Zhejiang province, Longjing is the most well-known pan-fired Chinese green tea. Its flavour derives partly from the
terroir of the region in which it is produced. •
'''Lu'an Melon Seed' (六安瓜片, Lù'ān guāpiàn'') Grown in
Anhui province. Unlike typical Chinese teas, two leaves are plucked separately from each branch, with no bud and no stems. Harvested later in the season, it has a grassier flavour than typical Chinese green teas. •
Peaceful Monkey Leader (太平猴魁,
tàipíng hóukuí) Grown in
Anhui province. Uses a
cultivar with an unusually large leaf. The production process flattens the tea leaves, creating the so-called "two knives and a pole" shape from the leaves and stem. •
Tippy Green (信陽毛尖,
Xìnyáng Máojiān) A type of
maojian tea grown in
Xinyang,
Henan province.
Maojian teas are harvested by plucking a bud and one leaf together. •
Anji White (安吉白;
Ānjí bái) A type of green tea from Anji •
Sweet Dew of Mengding (蒙頂甘露,
Méngdǐng Gānlù) A yellowish-green tea with sweet aftertaste from Mending mountain in
Sichuan •
Duyun Maojian (都匀毛尖) One of the
famous Chinese teas which was a favourite of
Mao Zedong. •
Cloud tea (雲雾茶,
yún wù chá) A type of green tea originally cultivated in Le Mountain (南岳山;
nányuè shān), named for the mountain clouds. It is mentioned in
The Classic of Tea and is one of the
famous Chinese teas. Japan '' green tea, the most popular form of tea in Japan Tea seeds were first brought to Japan in the early 9th century by the Buddhist monks
Saicho and
Kūkai. During the
Heian period (794–1185),
Emperor Saga introduced the practice of drinking tea to the imperial family. The
Zen Buddhist priest
Eisai (1141–1215), founder of the
Rinzai school of Buddhism, brought tea seeds from China to plant in various places in Japan. Eisai advocated that all people, not just Buddhist monks and the elite, drink tea for its health benefits. The oldest tea-producing region in Japan is
Uji, located near the former capital of
Kyoto. It is thought that seeds sent by Eisai were planted in Uji, becoming the basis of the tea industry there. Today, Japan's most expensive premium teas are still grown in Uji. The largest tea-producing area today is
Shizuoka Prefecture, which accounts for 40% of total Japanese
sencha production. Other major tea-producing regions include the island of
Kyushu and the prefectures of
Shiga,
Gifu, and
Saitama in central
Honshu. green tea produced by
The Coca-Cola Company that is primarily sold in Japan under the brand name
Ayataka. All commercial tea produced in Japan today is green tea, though for a brief period black tea was also produced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Japanese tea production is heavily mechanized, and is characterized by the use of modern technology and processes to improve yields and reduce labour. Because of the high cost of labour in Japan, only the highest quality teas are plucked and processed by hand in the traditional fashion. Japanese green teas have a thin, needle-like shape and a rich, dark green colour. Unlike Chinese teas, most Japanese teas are produced by steaming rather than pan-firing. This produces their characteristic colour, and creates a sweeter, more grassy flavour. A mechanical rolling/drying process then dries the tea leaves into their final shape. The liquor of steamed Japanese tea tends to be cloudy due to the higher quantity of dissolved solids. Most Japanese teas are blended from leaves grown in different regions, with less emphasis on terroir than in the Chinese market. Because of the limited quantity of tea that can be produced in Japan, the majority of production is dedicated to the premium tea market. Cheaper bottled teas and tea-flavoured food products usually use lower-grade Japanese-style tea produced in China. Although a variety of commercial tea cultivars exist in Japan, the vast majority of Japanese tea is produced using the
Yabukita cultivar developed in the 1950s. Popular Japanese green teas include: •
Bancha (番茶) A lower-grade tea plucked from the same bushes used to produce
sencha. It has a somewhat bolder flavour, and is plucked each season after
sencha production is finished. •
Genmaicha (玄米茶) Made by combining
sencha tea leaves with toasted puffs of rice. •
Gyokuro (玉露) Grown under shade for three weeks prior to plucking,
gyokuro is one of the most exclusive varieties of tea produced in Japan. The shading technique imparts a sweeter flavour, and produces a particularly rich colour thanks to the higher amounts of
chlorophyll in the shaded leaf.
Gyokuro tea is associated with the Uji region, the first tea-growing region in Japan. It is often made using smaller-leaf cultivars of the tea plant. •
Hōjicha (焙じ茶) This type of tea is made by roasting
sencha or
bancha leaves with
kukicha twigs. •
Kabusecha (かぶせ茶) Similar to
gyokuro, kabusecha is shaded for only a week prior to plucking. Its flavour is somewhat between that of
gyokuro and normal
sencha. •
Kukicha (茎茶) A blended tea made of
sencha leaves and stems. •
Matcha (抹茶) Like
gyokuro,
matcha is shaded before plucking. The plucked and processed leaf is called
tencha. This product is then ground into a fine powder, which is
matcha. Because the tea powder is very perishable,
matcha is usually sold in small quantities. It is typically rather expensive.
Matcha is the type of tea used in the
Japanese tea ceremony. It is prepared by whisking the tea with hot water in a bowl, until the surface is frothy. If the water is too hot, the tea may become overly bitter. •
Sencha (煎茶) This type of tea is produced throughout the tea season, and is the standard style today, representing 80% of all tea produced in Japan. 90% of
sencha is grown from the
Yabukita cultivar. •
Shincha (新茶) The first early harvest of tea, plucked before the first flush, is called
shincha.
Shincha is made from the youngest new growth leaves, and is plucked from early April to early May.
Shincha typically refers to the early harvest of
sencha, but can refer to any type of tea plucked early in the season, before the main harvest. Because of the limited quantities in which it is produced,
shincha is highly prized and expensive to obtain.
Korea tomb, shows a knight drinking tea with two ladies (5–6th century).
(green tea), ujeon (green tea), and hwangcha'' (yellow tea) from
Hadong County According to
Record of Gaya cited in
Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, the legendary queen
Heo Hwang-ok, a princess of the
Ayodhya married to
King Suro of Gaya, brought the tea plant from
India and planted it in
Baegwolsan, a mountain in current
Changwon. However, it is a widely held view that systematic planting of tea bushes began with the introduction of Chinese tea culture by the Buddhist monks around the 4th century. Amongst some of the earliest Buddhist temples in Korea,
Bulgapsa (founded in 384, in
Yeonggwang),
Bulhoesa (founded in 384, in
Naju) and
Hwaeomsa (founded in
Gurye, in 544) claim to be the birthplace of Korean tea culture.
Seon-Buddhist manners of ceremony prevailed. The restoration of the Korean way of tea began in the 1970s, around
Dasolsa. By 2012 the industry was producing 20% as much tea as Taiwan and 3.5% as much as Japan. Green tea is not as popular as coffee or other types of
Korean teas in modern South Korea. The annual consumption per capita of green tea in South Korea in 2016 was , compared to coffee. Recently however, as the coffee market reached saturation point, South Korean tea production doubled during 2010‒2014, as did tea imports during 2009–2015, despite very high
tariff rate (513.6% for green tea, compared to 40% for black tea, 8% for processed/roasted coffee, and 2% for raw
coffee beans). Korean green tea can be classified into various types based on several different factors. The most common is the flush, or the time of the year when the leaves are plucked (and thus also by leaf size). •
UjeonUjeon (), or
cheonmul-cha (), is made of hand-picked leaves plucked before
gogu (20–21 April). The ideal steeping temperature for
ujeon tea is . •
SejakSejak (), or
dumul-cha (), is made of hand-picked leaves plucked after
gogu (20–21 April) but before
ipha (5–6 May). •
Garucha (
malcha)The synonyms
garucha () and
malcha () refer to powdered tea. Leaf teas are processed either by roasting or steaming. •
Deokkeum-cha (
bucho-cha)Roasting is the most common and traditional way of tea processing in Korea. Also translated into "pan-fried tea", the
deokkeum-cha () or
bucho-cha () varieties are richer in flavour. •
Jeungje-chaSteaming is less popular in Korean green tea processing, but the method is still used in
temple cuisine. Tea prepared with steamed tea leaves, called
jeungje-cha (), are more vivid in colour. Southern, warmer regions such as
Boseong in
South Jeolla Province,
Hadong in
South Gyeongsang Province, and
Jeju Island are famous for producing high-quality tea leaves. •
Banya-chaBanya-cha () is one of the most renowned Korean green teas. This steamed tea is developed by Buddhist monks in
Boseong. The tea is grown on sandy loam near mountains and sea. The word
banya is a Korean transliteration of the Buddhist concept
prajñā. •
Jungno-chaJungno-cha () is one of the most renowned Korean green teas. The roasted variety of tea is made of tea leaves grown among the bamboo in
Gimhae,
Hadong, and
Jinju in
South Gyeongsang Province. Green tea can be blended with other ingredients. •
Hyeonmi-nokchaNokcha (green tea) blended with
hyeonmi-cha (brown rice tea) is called
hyeonmi-nokcha (). •
Remon-nokcha Nokcha (green tea) blended with lemon is called
remon-nokcha ().
Vietnam Green tea is the most popular tea among the
Vietnamese people. In 2011, it accounted for over 63% of overall retail volume sales. Vietnamese tea culture is ancient, but large scale cultivation was introduced in the late 19th century by
French colonists who ran the first plantations in the
Phú Thọ area. Though less well known than Japanese and Chinese green teas, there are various types of Vietnamese green tea and various cultivars. They have recently entered the international market, usually at lower prices. Vietnam is fifth in the world for tea production today. There is a long tradition of growing and processing green tea in the
Thái Nguyên area, north of Hanoi, which has been called the "cradle" of Vietnamese tea. This region is now known for its green tea, which is shipped internationally. There are also many scented varieties of Vietnamese green tea, most of which are scented with a certain flower petals. These include: •
Lotus tea (
trà sen), scented with
Lotus flowers, sometimes the petals will be mixed into the tea leaves. •
Jasmine tea (
trà lài), scented with
jasmine •
Chrysanthemum tea (
trà cúc) • Aglaia tea (
trà ngâu, tea infused with the flower from the
Aglaia duperreana plant) •
Trà sói, tea infused with the flower from the
Chloranthaceae family. •
Trà sâm dứa, made from a herbal mix of green tea, jasmine,
Aglaia duperreana flower, basil and pandan leaves. ==See also==