All teas come from the original tea plant "Camellia Sinensis" a shrub that was grown in southern China.
Chinese discovered that this shrub has very high in medicinal values and since then it became a well-known refreshing drink.The cultivation of tea begun in the Tang Dynasty in China during the 7th and 10th century. After the harvest, tea was finely ground and dried into bricks for simple use. Folks may then break off a required piece of the dried tea brick and stir into steaming water. This provided a tea with a high shelf life green tea and easily carried during travel.
Earlier, the tea powder production was by roasting and crushing, thereafter the process of decocting the resulting tea powder in hot water, and a pinch of salt was added for taste. Later the Song Dynasty during the 10th and 13th century evolved the process of grinding of steamed green tea(for drying the tea leaves). Slowly, after the 12th century, the process of consuming powdered tea after steaming and then brewing the tea by whipping this powdered tea in hot water in a china clay bowl became a popular style of drinking tea.
Drinking this form of tea was a regular practice by Zen Buddhist.Zen Buddhist spend most of their time meditating in the temples soon discovered an even potent tea by cultivating the tea shrubs under shade in order to maximize the medicinal values. Here tender tea leaves and buds are plucked called "Tencha" are dried before pulverizing.After these process, it is called "Matcha".
Drinking this form of tea was a regular practice by Zen Buddhist.Zen Buddhist spend most of their time meditating in the temples soon discovered an even potent tea by cultivating the tea shrubs under shade in order to maximize the medicinal values. Here tender tea leaves and buds are plucked called "Tencha" are dried before pulverizing.After these process, it is called "Matcha".
The Zen Buddhists found that drinking "Matcha" helped them improve the sense of clarity and well-being which supported their meditation activity.They also experienced that drinking this tea prior to their meditation sessions enabled them to gain full concentration, maintain a high level of energy for extended periods and deeply focused thoughts which they had never felt before. Eventually "Matcha, was considered as a Ceremonial tea of the temple senior monks.
Matcha was also popular amongst ancient warriors, the "Shogun,". They could derive remarkable benefits from this tea since it gave them maintenance of prolonged energy and mental acuity. They used to drink this tea before going to the battlefield.
The concept of tea was brought to Japan in 1191 by the monk, Eisai.He brought with him the Chinese process of preparing powdered tea and this eventually evolved into the normal chanoyu ceremony. Although the tradition of drinking pulverized fresh green tea has lost its importance in China in the recent years, the tradition has persisted in Japan. Although originally, a few royal and Samurai Warriors got Matcha in spite of the fact it was so tedious to manufacture and costly, it's currently a well-liked drink throughout Japan.
It was in 1738, Sohen Nagatani created a new method of processing tea which was practiced in the Uji region Kyoto.This method is still used to cultivate high-quality Matcha even today.Sohen Nagatani educated all the farmers in the Uji region with this new method and this had made a great impact on the development of the entire Uji region Kyoto is known for its world-class Matcha producers.
No comments:
Post a Comment