The Origin and Types of Tea

The history of tea

my country is the first country in the world to discover and utilize tea. Tea as a drink originated from the Shennong clan, and was heard by Duke Zhou of Lu. It flourished in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, declined in the late Qing Dynasty, revived in the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and flourished in the contemporary era. Today it has become one of the three most popular non-alcoholic bages (tea, coffee, cocoa) in the world. Tea not only promotes the process of Chinese civilization, but also greatly enriches the material and cultural life of the West and the world.

Our country is one of the birthplaces of tea and tea culture in the world. Our ancestors have left numerous tea science classics for future generations. Among them, the earliest and most comprehensive one is the “Tea Classic” written by Lu Yu, the “Tea God” in the Tang Dynasty. It discusses the origin, variety, distribution, production, tea brewing water, utensils, and interesting anecdotes about tea, etc. It has played a huge role in promoting the development of the tea industry in my country and the world.

The main content of the Tea Book is: “The Origin of One”, which discusses the origin, name, and quality of tea, introduces the morphological characteristics of tea trees, the relationship between tea quality and soil, points out the soil suitable for tea, the location and topography of tea fields, the relationship between varieties and fresh leaf quality, as well as cultivation methods, and the physiological health care function of drinking tea on the human body. It was also mentioned that the large ones discovered in Badong, Hubei and southeast Sichuan tea tree . “Two Tools” talks about the tools for picking tea leaves. Detailed introduction to production cake tea Names, specifications and usage of the 19 required tools. “San Zhi Zao” talks about the types of tea and the methods of harvesting and processing. The importance and requirements of tea picking were pointed out, and the theory of timely tea picking was put forward. It describes the six processes of making tea cakes: steaming, pounding, molding, drying, stringing, and packaging. The tea cakes are divided into eight grades according to the evenness of appearance and color. “Four Utensils” refers to the utensils used for making tea and drinking tea. It describes in detail the names, shapes, materials, specifications, production methods, uses of 28 kinds of tea making and drinking utensils, as well as the influence of the utensils on the quality of tea soup. It also discusses the quality and usage rules of tea utensils in various places. “Five Boils” describes the methods of making tea and the quality of water in various places. It describes the preparation of cake tea and tea soup. It focuses on the method of roasting tea, the fuel for roasting and boiling tea, the water used for making tea and the temperature of tea boiling. The influence of the degree and method of boiling on the color and aroma of the tea soup proposes that the white and thick foam of the tea soup is its elite. “Six Drinks” talks about drinking tea style Customs, describes the origin, spread and customs of tea drinking, and proposes ways and means of drinking tea. “Seven Things” tells the stories, origin and medicinal effects of tea in ancient and modern times. It records historical materials, legends, anecdotes, poems, essays, prescriptions, etc. related to tea before the Tang Dynasty. “Eight Out of Eight” evaluates the quality of tea produced in various places. This article describes the origin and quality of tea in the Tang Dynasty, and divides the national tea production areas in the Tang Dynasty into eight major tea areas. The tea produced in each tea area is divided into four levels: upper, middle, lower, and lower again according to quality. “Nine strategies” talks about which tea sets and tea utensils can be omitted and under what circumstances which tea-making processes, tools or tea-making and drinking utensils can be omitted.

How is tea classified?

According to statistics, Chinese tea has 6000 There are many varieties, but they are classified into three categories according to the production method, namely unfermented tea, semi-fermented tea, and fully fermented tea.

The products are classified into six categories, namely black tea, green tea, white tea, yellow tea, dark tea, oolong tea (green tea), and green tea.

Green tea, also known as unfermented tea. Tea leaves are made from the new shoots of suitable tea trees as raw materials and undergo typical processes such as greening, rolling, and drying. The color of its dry tea and the tea soup after brewing and the bottom of the leaves are mainly green, hence the name.

The characteristics of green tea include retaining more of the natural substances in the fresh leaves. Among them, tea polyphenols and caffeine retain the content of fresh leaves 85 % or more, chlorophyll is retained 50 About %, vitamin loss is also less, thus forming green tea ” Clear soup with green leaves, strong astringent taste ” characteristics. The latest scientific research results show that the natural ingredients retained in green tea have special effects on anti-aging, anti-cancer, anti-cancer, sterilization, anti-inflammatory, etc., which are unmatched by other teas.

black tea —- The difference between black tea and green tea lies in the different processing methods. Black tea is processed without being greened, and withered, so that the fresh leaves lose part of their water, and then rolled ( rub into strips or cut into particles), and then fermented to oxidize the tea polyphenols contained in them and turn them into red compounds. Part of this compound is soluble in water, and part is insoluble in water, and accumulates in the leaves, forming red soup and red leaves. There are three main categories of black tea: Souchong black tea, Gongfu black tea and black broken tea.

green tea ( Oolong tea )—- It is a semi-fermented tea, that is, it is properly fermented during production, causing the leaves to turn slightly red. It is a type of tea between green tea and black tea. It has the freshness and richness of green tea and the sweetness and mellowness of black tea. Because the middle of the leaves is green and the edges of the leaves are red, it is called “green leaves with red edges”.

white tea —- It is a specialty of our country. It is processed without frying or kneading. Only the tender tea leaves with hairy backs are sun-dried or dried over a slow fire, leaving the white hairs intact. White tea is mainly produced in Fuding, Zhenghe, Songxi and Jianyang counties in Fujian, including “Silver Needle”, “White Peony”, “Gongmei” and “Shou Mei”.

yellow tea —- During the process of making tea, yellow leaves and yellow soup are formed. “Yellow Bud Tea” ( Including Junshan Yinya from Dongting Lake in Hunan, Mengding Huangya from Ya’an, Sichuan, and Mengding Huangya from Mingshan County, and Huonei Ya from Huoshan, Anhui. ) , “Yellow Tea” ( Including Beigangzai in Yueyang, Hunan, Weishan Maojian in Ningxiang, Hunan, Pingyang Huangtang in Pingyang, Zhejiang, and Luyuan in Yuanan, Hubei ) , “Yellow Tea” ( Including Big Leaf Green Tea and Anhui Huoshan Yellow Tea ) Category three.

black tea —- The raw materials are coarse and old, and the accumulation and fermentation time during processing are long, making the leaves appear dark brown. It is an indispensable daily necessity for Tibetan, Mongolian, Uyghur and other fraternal ethnic groups. There are varieties such as “Hunan Dark Tea”, “Hubei Laoqing Tea”, “Guangxi Liubao Tea”, Sichuan’s “West Road Tea” and “South Road Tea”, and Yunnan’s “Tight Tea”, “Bian Tea”, “Fang Tea” and “Round Tea”.