Although the tradition has somewhat been distorted in mainland China, it is still pretty as it was in the rest of the Far East that Buddhist monks don’t drink alcohol and have to live a life of hard work. Some believe that tea was popularized by monks because they needed it to stay awake and calm especially during long hours of meditation and chanting. And monks had an important social role in most parts of history so their influence in various levels of the society is understandable.
Small tea farms are still maintained in some monastery although they are not producing as much as they used to be for real consumption for the occupants. Not many centuries ago, people came just for the special tea each establishment had to offer.
Green tea was the de facto tea category in those days, and the gentlemanly taste profile of most traditional green tea reflects the ideal of simplicity of Buddhism. It is believed that Oolong tea was used as an alternative especially when serving big crowds during which the steeping time and particularly serving temperature is hardly controllable. Oolong is a lot more forgiving than green tea particularly when preparing and stocking a huge volume. Black tea took its place after it was invented because of relatively much lower labour cost and can be served up even when it has turned quite cold. It is still given away to passerbys in some temples and monasteries in southern China. In Japan, they use bancha in such situation.
