In this article, Ito En will discuss about the development of tea for you tea fans. This is important and you must know so that you can enjoy and appreciate every drop of tea you drink. Let’s get started!
So, ancient records show that tea seeds were first planted in Japan around 805 AD by two monks: Saicho and Kukai. Following the method they saw on their way to China, China, they saw the tea leaves molded into shapes like blocks of bricks, which were then partially dredged and placed in hot water when they wanted to drink them.
At that time, Saga was ruling the empire in Japan. Emperor Saga fell in love with tea and encouraged the spread of tea in Japan, but that didn’t happen until several hundred years later, a Zen Buddhist priest named Eisai promoted tea in Japan by bringing tea plants to his friend, the priest Myoe in Kyoto. That’s when tea production really took off.
Well, around 1190 Pastor Myoe brought tea plants to various locations including Uji, the name of a location in southeastern Kyoto, a place where tea grew very well. This region is climatically very suitable for tea production because of the very limited frost, the wind is cool but not strong. To this day the Uji area is still known for the excellent quality of the tea leaves produced there.
Tea producers begin to develop and improve their production techniques to optimize the best growth, shading and grinding of green tea. It is thought that the technique of shading (shading the tea plants) was introduced in the 16th century
In 1738 Soen Nagatani introduced an improved method of processing green tea. This became the standard production method that is still used throughout Japan today. Soen Nagatani’s idea was to heat (steam) the leaves to stop the fermentation process – this method is now known as Aosei Sencha. The Aosei Sencha method provides a greener color with a very fresh scent on the leaves. This discovery is the key to the even more rapid development of tea in Japan, as well as giving a new identity to Japanese green tea with a unique taste and different from green tea roasted from China (known as kamairicha). In fact, more than 80% of green tea in Japan is produced using this method, and the result we often hear as Sencha.
As an innovative nation, as in the fields of automotive and electronic technology in the 1950s, in this field since the discovery of Aosei Sencha by Soen Nagatani in 1738, Japan has continued to improve green tea production over the years, so that quality tea is now available. greens are very diverse. The number of producers also continues to increase and the standards vary greatly from one producer to another. It is not surprising that Japan is called the country of green tea, and ITO EN as a green tea producer is proud to be a part of this centuries-old tradition and is even said to be the largest green tea company in Japan.