Green Tea History

The brew that can be called tea first appeared around the 2nd century in China, when sun-dried green leaves were chopped and boiled as a drink. That was the birth of the earliest green tea. In the 7th century, the ancient Chinese people began to prepare their tea into the shape of pie. Steamed, moulded and baked dry, the pie was smashed by a roller and boiled at tea time. Pie tea was popular for a long period until banned by Emperor Hongwu in 1391.

When pie tea was replaced by loose leaf tea, roasting method replaced steaming method in Chinese tea production. There were almost 60 well-known teas at that time. And fifteen of them are still in production today, while 13 teas are green teas.

Since this first cup of green tea was brewed many years years ago, the popularity of tea has increased to the point that it is presently the second most popular beverage in the world after water. Yes, yes, only water surpasses green tea in popularity! Shortly after Emperor Shen Nung's discovery, tea's popularity spread to Japan and the rest of the Far East region. As early as 1615, English traders imported Chinese green tea into England for the first time. Tea quickly spread throughout Europe and in less than 100 years, England's import of tea rose from 100 pounds a year to over 5 million pounds per year. After the tea importing was suspended by the Chinese emperor, England started tea plantations in India in the middle of the 19th century.