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Green Tea History
Before accidentally turned into 'black' during its
transportation in 17th century, tea had no 'color'.
The brew that can be called tea appeared around 2nd
century in China, when sun-dried 'green' leaves were
chopped and boiled as a drink, the earliest green tea.
In 7th century, ancient Chinese made tea into 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 time until banned by Emperor Hongwu
in 1391.
Tea was introduced to Korea at the end of 4th century
along with Buddhism. In 805 AD, a returned Japanese monk
brought with him the seeds of tea from Tian-tai Mountain
of Zhejiang Province and planted the first tea in Japan.
(Japan has only green tea and tea-makers still use
Chinese steaming method today).
Loose leaf tea, unfrequented in the past, began to be in
fashion in 14th century and roasting replaced steaming
method. There were 58 recorded well-known teas then. In
15 teas still in production today, 13 of them are green
tea.
In 1673, England imported Chinese green tea for the
first time. After franchise of tea importing being
suspended by Chinese emperor, England started tea
plantations in India in 1834.
China the homeland of tea
The categories of tea | 
