Believe it or not, green tea has been around for hundreds of centuries, dating back in Chinese literature as far as 5,000 years ago! It dates back to 2737 BC based on some Chinese legends, stories and some literature.

Chinese Stories and Legends of the History of Green Tea:

A man known as Shien Non Shei found the plant, and tasted a leaf from it. He thought it tasted fantastic, and decided to mix it with water to make a drink out of it. He also thought that the plant had medicinal properties.

Another story says that the Emperor, Shen Nung, came upon the tea when a leaf from the plant fell into a cup of hot water he was drinking at the time.

Chinese Tea Drinkers:

Green tea has been used in China as a healthy, medicinal drink for approximately 5,000 years. Green tea was the drink of choice among the leaders and the wealthy. The tea leaves were used fresh from the plant for tea brewing, lightly heat processed, or even eaten right away. In ancient China, tea was a costly drink, consumed only by the rich and wealthy of the population. However, following the fall of the Mongolian Empire back in 1368 AD, the whole population of China began to experience the wonderful consumption of tea, including green tea.

Between 1405 and 1433, when China had the power of the sea, the seamen were given the necessary amount of green tea. The antioxidants in the green tea they drank fought off scurvy, which killed many Europeans sailors several years later.

Tea consumption was introduced to the United States by Europe, as a part of the worldwide tea trade, and also by Chinese immigrants who owned Chinese restaurants in the United States and served their tea. This dates back before 1945.