How old is tea making culture?

“Shen Nong Bai Cao Jing” has a saying, “Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs, encountered seventy-two poisons, and solved it by discovering tea”. From the perspective of modern medicine, it may seem a little weird, but the “Shen Nong Baicao Jing” is also the earliest document related to tea. From the “Shen Nong Baicao Jing”, we can know that tea was originally used as an antidote for detoxification.

Since the “Tea classics” written by Lu Yu, the tea saint of the Tang Dynasty, we can see that he made a comprehensive exposition of tea right across the board from tea variants to tea-drinking customs. The Chinese tea-drinking culture and art after the Tang Dynasty was promoted by the “Tea Classic”, which has had a profound impact on later generations lasting until this day.

Although the origin of tea cannot be investigated at present, one thing we can be sure of is that tea culture has existed in the Chinese world for more than a thousand years, and it may have changed a lot in terms of brewing and drinking. The mode of drinking tea has changed from ancient “sencha” to “brewing”, to the present beverages found in bubble tea shops. The deep-rooted tea-drinking culture has always flourished in the Chinese world.

What are professional tea tools?

As the saying goes, “If a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his utensils.” Before we learn how to brew a good cup of tea, we must first come to know a few very basic tea utensils!

Tea Tool1：Tea scoop

Tea scoops are mostly made of bamboo, and the purpose is to take the tea into the pot. According to Lu Yu’s explanation in “Tea Classics”: “Scoop’s function, the measure, accuracy, and the degree”, we can understand that the tea scoop is the principle, so it is also an instrument for measuring the amount of tea used when brewing tea. It is also an indispensable component of a tea set.

Tea Tool2：Tea pot

When making tea, the most important key affecting the aroma is whether the tea leaves can be completely released or not. If you are a new tea brewer, you can consider buying a round teapot as they have the versatility to brew any kind of tea at an even heat which is very helpful for releasing the aromas of tea leaves.

In addition, there are numerous teapots made of various materials, so you can choose according to your own preferences or needs. A special type of teapot is the “Purple Clay teapot”. The “Purple Clay teapot” has a unique mineral structure, and its body is full of delicate double pores, which makes it easy to be absorbed when the tea leaves secrete tea oil. Therefore, the fragrance and taste of the tea brew will change with the brewing time. In addition, the “Purple Clay teapot” can also help the tea leaves to produce healthy compounds, allowing the release of more catechins, which can sweeten the flavour.

Tea Tool3：Tea serving pot

When a pot of tea is brewed, the tea needs to be poured from the teapot into a serving pot, and then distributed to the teacups. This tool prevents the tea leaves from being steeped for too long in the teapot which leads to bitterness, thus ensuring that the tea has the best possible flavour. In addition, a filter can also be placed on the tea serving pot, and the tea residue can be filtered while pouring the tea, which will result in a better flavour.

Tea Tool4：Aroma cup

Aroma cups are the most important tool for tasting tea and can be simply described as tall and narrow in shape, which helps capture the full extent of aromas. A pot of tea is brewed, and it is enjoyable to use an aroma cup to smell its further enhanced aroma.

Tea Tool5：Tea cup

There are many exquisite styles of tea cups including bamboo hat cups and lotus petal cups, available in a range of different materials but most notably, pottery, porcelain, and glass. In more formal tea tasting meetings, most of the teacups that are often seen are made of ceramic or porcelain.

Tea Tool6：Tea spoon, Tea picker

Tea spoons and tea pickers can be said to be maintenance and cleaning tools that cooperate with each other. The front end of the teaspoon is curved in order to fit the shape of the tea pot and penetrate into the body of the teapot, which is convenient for taking out the tea leaves that stick to the inside of the teapot after brewing; The slender tea picker can clean tea leaves away from the narrower spout, avoiding buildup.

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Water quality is very important before making tea

The quality of water can directly affect the quality of tea. If you want to have a better tasting tea, the quality of water cannot be ignored. Usually, the use of mineral water to make tea can remove the astringency, resulting in a more purified and delicious flavour. However, because mineral water contains calcium and magnesium, it will interact with the amino acids in the tea, making the tea darker. Therefore, we recommend brewing with soft water with relatively low mineral content, which will not affect the flavour of the tea brew.

Making Tea Step 1: Warm pot and heat cup

First of all, pour hot water into the teapot and wait until the pot is completely heated because by warming the tea set, the tea fragrance can be released once you next pour the hot water into the aroma cup and the tea cup.

Making Tea Step 2: Set the tea

Next, you can use the tea scoop to take out the tea leaves and put them into the teapot. It is necessary to avoid direct contact with the tea leaves as much as possible because in addition to hygiene, moisture on the hands will also affect the flavour and preservation of the tea leaves, especially if residual skin care products, perfumes, vegetable smells, etc. are present. Then, we suggest that the bottom of the teapot can be covered because this concentration of tea is acceptable to most people. When you are proficient, you can adjust the amount according to personal preferences.

Making Tea Step 3: Brew

The usual way of brewing is to fill the pot with hot water and wait for the tea leaves to unfold. But if you plan to brew tight spherical tea leaves, you must use the “warm brewing” technique as spherical tea leaves do not unfold easily.

The practice of “warm brewing” is to pour hot water into the pot a little above the tea leaves, but be careful not to fill the whole teapot. Next, just swirl the teapot slightly to help the tea unfold, and after the next 5 seconds, you can fill the rest of the pot with hot water, wait for 1 minute, and the delicious tea will be born.

Making Tea Step 4: Smell and Drink

Pour the brewed tea into an aroma cup, wait for 10 seconds, and then pour it into a tea cup. You then can enjoy the fragrance brought by the good tea.

Read More:
How to Brew Tea? 4 Steps to Make Good Tea!

ABoxTik, enjoy making tea with you.

The above is an introduction of traditional tea brewing and I believe that now you have read it, everyone will be able to improve their knowledge of traditional tea brewing and choose the most suitable way!

ABoxTik will continue to bring everyone different tea knowledge, including history and various analyses of tea culture. In hopes for everyone to acquire a better understanding of tea, please read through our articles. If you are interested in various tea cultures, as well as the history and knowledge of tea, you are welcome to explore more secrets of tea with ABoxTik products. Continue to follow our article updates, and visit our official website!