Making China tea today is easy and tasty. But in Ancient China, it was not so easy to make China tea, as the tea leaves were pressed into cakes and boiled with a variety of items such as rice, salt, orange peel and onions.
A Little History of Tea in China
For centuries, the Chinese ate the green tea leaves raw or brewed the leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) for use as medicine for specific illnesses and for general health. Buddhist monks drank the tea during meditation and long hours of chanting and prayers.
As Chinese emperors and their courts heard of this wonderful drink, tea became a part of daily life in the government centers. Emperors gave specially prepared tea leaves as a reward to government workers.
When the common people had an opportunity to drink tea and learn about it, tea became a popular beverage. Pearl S. Buck in her book, The Good Earth, describes how important tea was to everyone when her character, “the old man” (farmer Wang Lung’s father), states, “Tea is like eating silver.”
The Chinese have a long history of drinking tea as part of social occasions. Serving tea became part of a ritual called cha dao or the way of tea.
And, as with the Japanese, the Chinese have tea ceremonies such as, the GongFu and the Wu-Wo tea ceremonies. GongFu means (Gong) the willingness for continuous practice of a skill and (Fu) the willingness to keep practicing until one has mastered the skill.
Early on, cultivation of the tea plant was important in China. Different methods for picking and drying the green tea leaves were studied and adopted across China. Tea leaves were cut or left whole. Some leaves were left loose while others were pressed into cakes, which made it easier to transport them over long distances.
Tea became quite important to the Chinese, especially to the upper classes.
During the Tang dynasty (618 – 907 CE), tea was brewed much as we do today (heat water, steep leaves, drink). Later in the Northern Song (960 – 1126 CE) and the Southern Song dynasty (1127 – 1279 CE), the tea leaves were dried and mashed into a powder. Much like Japanese matcha tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies, the powdered tea in the Song dynasties was whipped in hot water with a bamboo whisk.
First Book on Tea in China
Most people are familiar with the A Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzō originally published in 1906. This wonderful little book remains a classic on all things tea. But, there was an earlier book written on tea that gives us much insight into how the Chinese viewed tea.
The Classic of Tea or the Cha Jing written by Lu Yu in the Yang dynasty is the first known book to celebrate the cultivation, brewing and drinking of tea. In its three volumes and ten chapters, Lu Yu provides a description of the importance of tea to the Chinese.
The chapters include:
- What a tea plant is and where it grows
- Agricultural tools for growing tea plants
- Seasonal timing for cultivation and harvest of tea leaves
- The 24 items needed to brew tea
- How to store and brew tea
- Why, how, and when to drink tea
- Books and records on who drank tea in the Yang dynasty
- Provinces and general areas in China where tea was grown
- Cultivation in poor soil areas
- How to post tea information from the book on wall scrolls
How to Make China Tea
The Chinese prefer to drink green and oolong teas. Green tea leaves are heat or sun dried for a short time to stop the fermentation process. Oolong tea leaves are heat or sun dried for a longer period, but not as long as for a true black tea. Oolong tea leaves are partially fermented while tea leaves for black tea are fully fermented.
When making China tea, use the ritual of a GongFu ceremony for a unique tea sipping experience.
- Choose the best green or oolong tea that you can buy. Look for an expiration date on the tea. If the tea has or is about to expire, choose a box with a longer expiry date.
- Relax and enjoy the process of brewing the tea.
- Use the best water you can find. Fresh spring or well water is great, filtered is next best, with unfiltered city water as the last choice.
- Do you have a favorite teapot or teacup? Or, maybe it’s time to treat yourself to something new. Choose tools that feel good in your hands. Imagine what it would be like to sip from the teacup or to lift and pour tea from the teapot.
- Clear your mind and your house of clutter if possible. The Chinese believe that sipping tea in a sea of untidiness is just drinking for the sake of eliminating a thirst. Sipping tea in a sea of tranquility is being mindful of what you are drinking, where the tea leaves grew and were harvested, and the effort you put into making your cup of tea.
Making Chinese Green Tea
- Place the green tea in the teapot or teacup. Usually 2 teaspoons or 2 grams of loose leaf tea to 8 ounces of water or 1 to 2 teabags for a teapot or half those amount for a teacup.
- If using unfiltered city water, heat the water to boiling. Remove the water from the heat and let it cool down for three to four minutes.
- If using filtered or spring/well water, heat the water until almost boiling. You’ll see tendrils of steam rising from the surface of the water.
- Pour the hot water over the green tea. Let it steep for no more than 1 minute. Steep early-harvest green teas for no longer than 30 seconds.
- Sit back and enjoy the taste, aroma, and warmth of your efforts to replicate a GongFu tea ceremony using green tea.
Note: If the tea tastes bitter, the water may have been too hot or the steeping time was too long.
Making Chinese Oolong tea
- Place the oolong tea in the teapot or teacup. Usually 2 teaspoons or 2 grams of loose leaf tea to 8 ounces of water or 1 to 2 teabags for a teapot or half those amount for a teacup.
- If using unfiltered city water, heat the water to boiling. Remove the water from the heat and let it cool down for two to three minutes.
- If using filtered or spring/well water, heat the water until boiling barely begins. You’ll see or hear little bubbles rising from the bottom of the water.
- Pour the hot water over the oolong tea. Let it steep for no more than 2 minutes.
- Sit back and enjoy the taste, aroma, and warmth of your efforts to replicate a GongFu tea ceremony using oolong tea.
Note: If the tea tastes bitter, the water may have been too hot or the steeping time was too long.
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