Japanese green tea is said to been originated by the founder of Zen Buddhism, Eisai Myoan. He is credited for bringing green tea along with the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism from China to Japan.

After realizing that the green tea seeds planted in his temple were of better quality than the ones being grown in Japan, he experimented with many ways f brewing it. After different tests, he found out that the best flavor of green tea came after grinding the tea leaves until they became a powder and then mixing it with hot water.

Nowadays, Japan is one of the biggest producers of high quality green tea, and they offer many variations of it.

In Japan, green tea is not only used as a drink, but it goes beyond that, being used for ice creams, snacks, noodles and other types of products. Many benefits of green tea were studied after finding out the health benefits Japanese people enjoyed thanks to its consumption, like for example a longer life.

We can find green tea plantations mostly in the Shizuoka and Uji regions. In these areas the green tea plantations are well cared and maintained. The type of green tea cultivation varies in Japan; there are long strips of plantations that are side by side and not spaced apart like in other places of the World. Other areas where green tea is planted in Japan include: Kahoshima, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Saitama, Mie, Nara and Saga.

The climate in these places is perfect to bring the superb quality of Japanese green tea to everybody. This plant is grown in a warm and rainy place and always close to a river. Eveyrhting combines to bring a unique flavor.

There are different types of Japanese green tea, which by itself is rich in vitamin C with a beautiful and saturated green color. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Gyokuro is the one considered of best quality. Its color is a deeper green and it has a sweeter flavor. Its production takes place by covering them with bamboo, reed or canvas.

Bancha is made from the mature leaves and is the lowest grade of green tea brought from the region of Shizuoka. When this type of tea is roasted, it is called Hojicha. And it also can be mixed with popped rice, being called now Genmaicha,

Kukicha is a type of Japanese green tea which has low contents of caffeine and it is commonly used as a substitute of coffee.

Matcha green tea is a type of tea that is used in ceremonies in Japan. It has a beautiful color and a sweet taste that is used in many recipes.

But of all types of Japanese green tea, the most popular is Sencha.