Happy Saturday! Can you believe it?! Only 8 days until Christmas! Today I want to focus on the second country to ever produce tea; Japan. Japan is still on my vacation wish list, so for today we will see photos from a friend’s visit to Nippon, Japan.
As mentioned in previous posts, tea began in China then moved to other countries. Japan was the second country tea was grown. Japanese monks brought the tea plant back from China and began to cultivate them in monasteries. In the late 12th century, matcha tea made its way through Japanese classes. The tea helped samurai focus better on the battle field and tea ceremonies were ways for upper class to show case their wealth.
In the 16th century, Sen no Rikyu created the more humble tea ceremony (“Way of Tea”) to focus on harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. This ceremony is used today when attending a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
In addition to macha tea, Japan also produces sencha, which is a steamed green tea. This is today’s Countdown to Christmas Tea from Around the World.
The Japanese sencha tea a friend of mine shared has a fresh, grassy flavor; taking on a more bitter-savory taste. The color of the tea is almost a light greenish yellow.
Sencha tea health benefits include lowering cancer potential, boosting metabolism, boosting energy, lowering blood pressure, and many more positive things.
No matter where your tea is from today, I hope you have a wonderful day.
Rory, Tea & Me 