Steaming Green Tea

Steaming green tea refers to the finished green tea obtained by using steam to kill the tea process.

Steamed green tea was more popular in the Tang and Song dynasties, and the steaming method was also introduced to Japan through the Buddhist route. This method is still used in Japan, for example, matcha is one of the most popular green teas in Japan.

The homeland of steamed green tea is China. It is the earliest tea invented in China in ancient times, and has a longer history than steamed green tea. According to the "Tea Sage" Lu Yu's "Tea Sutra", its production method is as follows: "Pluck it on a clear day. Steam, pounding, patting, roasting, wearing, sealing, tea of dry carry on." About to pick the fresh tea leaves, after steaming or lightly cooked "fishing green" to soften, kneading, drying, grinding, shaping and made. This made of tea green color green soup green leaf green, very pleasing to the eye. According to the testimony, the Southern Song Dynasty Xianchun years, the Japanese monk Da Guangxin Zen master to Zhejiang Yuhang Jingshan Temple to study Buddhism, Jingshan Temple "tea feast" and "matcha" system brought to Japan, Japan's steamed green tea from the genesis. Japanese steamed green tea, in addition to matcha, there are also yulu, sencha, milled tea, tea, etc.. Because of the high temperature and short time of steam-killing, chlorophyll is less destroyed, and there is no smothering pressure throughout the whole production process, so the leaf color, soup color and leaf bottom of steamed green tea are particularly green. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Buddhist tea ceremony used is a kind of "matcha" of steam green. At that time, the Jingshan tea banquet of the Jingshan Temple in Yuhang, Zhejiang Province, was spread by visiting Japanese monks in their homeland, which inspired the rise of the Japanese "tea ceremony". To this day, the Japanese "tea ceremony" used is still steamed green tea.