Vietnamese Fresh Green Tea

Globalization means, in part, the flow of goods around the world and one look in the marketplace in Vietnam and one can see that globalization has indeed come to Vietnam - in force. The markets are inundated with goods of all kinds, Vietnamese and foreign made. Every time one looks there's another brand and a wider selection sitting on the supermarket shelves.

Still, many Vietnamese people treasure the memory of a bowl of hot green tea poured from a teapot that nestles in a basket lined with cotton to keep it hot. Fresh green tea leaves, boiled in a glazed terra-cotta teapot, and served up with a slice of ginger is not the peak of modernity but it is good. And it's very cheap - just a couple hundred Vietnam dong for a whole pot of tea and a whole lot of enjoyment for a tea-lover.

My father said that the origin of tea is not China - it’s Vietnam. He also said that tea was not first discovered by farmers or common people but was actually discovered by King Than Nong and he then ordered people to grow tea in the area that is now Linh Nam. Le Quy Don, a famous Vietnamese scholar of long ago, wrote "Green tea grows thickly on some An Thien and An Gioi hills in Nga Son district in Thanh Hoa province. Local inhabitants pick green tea leaves and use it to make a kind of drink that they say is healthy."

Green tea is healthy and cheap and, in the past, kings and lords drank green tea. Years ago it was picked in the Tan Cuong hill region in Thai Nguyen province and Huong Son region in Ha Tinh province and given to kings. Green tea leaves in that area used to be of high quality. When making tea, people oftentimes rip the leaves into small pieces and make it in a glazed terra-cotta teapot.

A lot of people like to put a slice of ginger in with the cup of tea at noon, before the afternoon nap. Cheap and healthy, fresh green tea has been called 'Vietnamese ginseng'.

Tran Quoc Vuong, a famous Vietnamese professor, said, "Fresh green tea is a part of traditional Vietnamese culture and it's an excellent drink, if it's made correctly."

With globalization, Vietnamese tea is being sold around the world and it's just as famous as Chinese tea. Fresh green tea is still a mandatory drink at ceremonial occasions like weddings and funerals. In some Vietnamese villages tea sellers will put small bags of fresh green tea leaves at the gate of their trusted customers and collect payment on the following day.

Across rural Vietnamese one will find tea trees. Vietnamese people, at home or abroad, might rarely drink fresh green tea but they'll never forget that special taste.