Over the past several years, ready-to-drink green tea has become one of Thailand's national beverages. With more than 1.55 billion baht in revenue and 3% annual growth, green tea shares a great proportion of the country's drink market.
As the bottled green tea industry enjoys non-stop growth, one key player has decided to earnestly revive and emphasise a pivotal aspect of the drink: health.
"Green tea is not just a thirst-quencher or highway to getting rich quick," said Oishi Group's vice-president of marketing Jesdakorn Ghosh.
"Evidence from scientific research around the world shows that regular consumption of green tea is beneficial for health."
Yet, she noted that the majority of Thais still perceive green tea as a trivial refreshment and are more likely to buy it for its taste rather than its wholesome health benefits.
So, is green tea good for our health?
"Green tea has long been treasured for its medicinal properties due to its high level of antioxidants. Compared to traditional Chinese tea and Indian black tea, green tea is believed to have the highest content of catechin, which is a natural phenol that helps in detoxification and antioxidation," said Somsri Tachavarakul, a certified nutritionist at Bumrungrad Hospital.
Scientifically speaking, tea is the extract of leaves and leaf buds of the Camellia sinensis, a species of evergreen shrub commonly known as tea-tree. The plant's tannic extract contains a unique organic compound, called catechins, which stimulate biological activities that create an antioxidant and anti-tumour environment, while supporting the improvement of cardiac health.
The first brew of green tea dated back more than 4,000 years ago in China. It was purposely consumed as a medicinal herbal drink. Tea leaves, all the while, have also been an important element in traditional Chinese medicine.
Thus drinking green tea, according to Somsri, can reduce several health risks, including that of heart disease and cancer, especially breast cancer and gastric cancer. It also helps lower blood sugar levels, prevents diabetes, boosts metabolism and slows down the decay of cells.
However, the nutritionist warned that not all of the green tea available nowadays in the market is truly nutritional.
"The degree of health benefit from green tea depends on the quality of tea leaves and manufacturing process.
"Many factors could contribute to catechin degradation such as long period of heat and oxidation during processing. So green tea is best when brewed freshly from leaves and consumed when it's still warm -- just like how the Japanese do," she explained.
In Japan, green tea holds a profound heritage and is always treated with passion and respect.
Just like in European viticulture, Japanese green tea is carefully nurtured from the first day of cultivation to the very second it is poured into a cup.
Some specific types of tea are a product of protected designation of origin and regarded top of the line in terms of quality. That includes Ise cha, a premium-grade tea grown only in Mie.
Mie is an agriculture-driven prefecture in the Kansai region on the south end of Honshu Island. For centuries, the vicinity has been regarded as The Land of Imperial Repasts, supplying a number of agricultural products for the imperial cuisine. Among them are Matsusaka beef, spiny lobsters and sakura shrimps.
As a paradise for tea afficionados, Mie is one of Japan's top three areas for cultivating green tea. The lush green lowland surrounded by hills, at which the first tea tree was planted over 900 years ago, is now occupied by tea plantations.
The prefecture's geographic features help sustain stable and mild temperatures of between 14-15C -- the perfect temperature for growing tea, all year round. Not only does Ise cha benefit from its specific geographic location, but the tea itself is also methodically cared for.
Japanese green tea is always treated with utmost care.
To gain the most healthful and flavoursome benefits, the highest grade of Ise cha is cultivated under light-filtering nets. This type of Ise cha is called Kabuse cha (kabuse means shaded, cha means tea).
Shading for a specific period of time will help protect tea leaves from direct sunlight. Sunlight is one of the main factors that destroys theanine, an amino acid that provides umami, a savoury and subtle taste in food. Theanine also works as a relaxing agent for the body and mind.
As a result, compared to typical green tea, the shaded tea has retained more theanine, which creates a perfectly balanced flavour by toning down the bitterness from the catechin, making the tea taste smoother, sweeter and more enjoyable.
"The highest content of both catechin and theanine is found in the top three leaves of the tea plant," explained Yoshiaki Thutumi, owner of Maruei tea plantation, Mie's largest producer of Kabuse cha tea.
"The top leaves require delicate care. So other than the sunlight, we also protect them from icy dew drops, quick temperature changes and somehow, stress," he said.
At the plantations, a number of state-of-the-arts electric windmill fans are thus used to control weather conditions round the clock.
The green tea agronomist said that for the sake of maximum gastronomic quality and releasing its medicinal properties, after being freshly picked, green tea leaves must go through a meticulous process of being made into crude tea within 12 hours. During this procedure, the tea is steamed, rolled (to enliven and stimulate the tea to release the favourable enzymes and fragrance) and dried.
To introduce the benefits of Mie's top-notch tea for the first time to consumers in Thailand, Oishi is now launching a new green tea brand, Kabusecha.
"We use only certified Kabusecha tea from Mie to ensure the highest quality of green tea possible," said Oishi's vice-president of marketing.
"The crude tea from the Mie plantation is sent to Mitsui Norin, a quality-control laboratory and distributing plant in Shizuoka, for blending and packaging as a refined tea before being distributed to Thailand. Therefore our ready-to-drink Kabesecha green tea combines Japan's artisanal wisdom and much-treasured proficiency with state-of-the-art manufacturing production.
"Not only do we aim to cater to a health-conscious trend, but also to introduce to Thai consumers the profound culture of Japanese tea drinking," she said.
Protecting tea trees from direct sunlight helps green tea to retain more amino acid that creates the umami taste.
Crude tea from the Mie plantation is sent to a quality-control laboratory in Shizuoka before being distributed to Thailand.
Thanks to its ideal geography, Mie is one of Japan's top three vicinities for cultivating green tea.
