From Medicine to a Status Symbol

In the following sections, we’ll take you on a journey through traditional Japan. From the first Chinese scholars (beginning in 710 CE) to the Japanese aristocracy and the samurai (beginning in 960 CE), all the way to the “tea gatherings featuring lower-grade tea” for the common people.

Tea has captivated every social class, though it has not always served the same purpose. The first Chinese tea cakes and tea bricks were boiled with salt, ginger, fruit peels, and onions and used purely as a medicinal beverage. Due to a centuries-long break in diplomatic relations, Chinese merchants did not bring the well-known green tea—in the form of tencha—to Japan until the 12th century CE. Tencha remains the foundation for the production of matcha (green tea powder) to this day and is thus a fundamental part of the tea ceremony. I’ve already provided a detailed overview of the exact procedure, the utensils used in the Japanese tea ceremony, and everything about matcha in the blog post “Chado”—The Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Starting in the 16th century, the most significant and influential discoveries took place, which are still successfully applied in tea production today. The most prominent example is the use of straw mats to protect tea bushes from volcanic ash. Shading had such a positive effect on the harvest and tea quality that it gave rise to a new production method. This method is used today in the production of tencha, gyokuro (“fully shaded tea”), and kabusecha (“semi-shaded tea”), resulting in Japan’s finest teas, rich in umami.

On our journey, we will take a closer look at the following types of Japanese tea and production methods:

• • Sencha
  • Shincha
  • Bancha
  • Hojicha
  • Genmaicha
  • Kukicha
  • Karigane
  • Gyokuro
  • Kabusecha
  • Tencha / Matcha