The Cup That Cheers

By Gavin Nazareth

Olivia Yang starts off her book "The Art of Tea Drinking", by saying that "The Chinese people are without a doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea." And it is hard to exaggerate the importance of tea in Chinese culture. At various points throughout history, China's national drink has also been designated as the state currency and used as cash.

While references to tea in Chinese literature go back approximately 5,000 years, the origin of tea's use as a beverage is unclear. Ancient folklore places the creation of the brew at 2737 BC, when a camellia blossom drifted into a cup of boiled drinking water belonging to Emperor Shen Nung. However, most scholars credit a reference found in Erh Ya, an ancient Chinese dictionary, dated about 350 BC.

There is no doubt that tea drinking was popular in ancient China as it was regarded as one of the seven daily necessities, the others being firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Even now, in both casual and formal Chinese occasions, tea is consumed regularly. In addition to being a drink, Chinese tea is used in herbal medicine and in cooking. It has long been known that tea aids in digestion, which is why many Chinese prefer to consume it after their meal. (Another interesting side effect for smokers is that tea hastens the discharge of nicotine from the body).

Tea as a drink prospered during the Tang Dynasty in the 8th century, and tea shops became popular. The elevation of tea drinking to an art form began after the completion of the book "The Classic Art of Tea" by Lu Yu, a highly esteemed poet and former Buddhist priest. This little book details rules concerning various aspects of tea, such as growth areas for tea trees, wares and skills for processing tea, tea tasting, the history of Chinese tea and quotations from other records, comments on tea from various places.

In the centuries following the publication of Yu's work, tea's popularity spread rapidly throughout China. Not only did tea drinking become a fitting subject for books and poems; Emperors bestowed gifts of tea upon grateful recipients. Later, teahouses began dotting the landscape. While the Chinese have never developed a ritualistic ceremony surrounding tea drinking resembling the Japanese tea ceremony, they have a healthy respect for its role in their daily lives.

Tea lovers are often surprised to learn that all tea comes from the same source: the Camilla Sinensis bush, an evergreen shrub that may grow up to 60 feet in the wild. When cultivated for harvest the tea bushes are kept to a height of about three feet. There are over 3,000 varieties of tea each with its own specific characteristics. The naming and growing of teas has many similarities to wine. Just as Bordeaux wine is named after the Bordeaux region in France, Assam is named after the Assam region in India, and Keemun is named after the Keemun region of China. Like wine, tea comes from one bush, and where the tea is grown, the climate, soil conditions, and how the tea is processed, determines the flavour characteristics of the tea.

While there are hundreds of varieties of Chinese teas, and there is no agreement on its classification, tea can be classified by procedure, quality, preparation methods, and so on. Below is tea classified by the method of processing.

Green Tea
Green Tea is the most popular in most places in China. It is the best drink for sultry summers as it is cool and fights off inflammation, or relieves fever. Fresh tea leaves are baked to remove the bitter taste. Quality green tea is picked around Pure Brightness (beginning around April 4-6) and Grain Rain (beginning around April 19-21). Well known green teas include Longjing from the West Lake, Biluochun from Wu County, Suzhuo, Jiangsu Province, Huangshan Maofeng from Mount Huangshan in Anhui, and Junshan Silver from the Hills of Junshan, Dongting Lake, Hunan Province. The tonic effect of green tea has long been known. Its radiation-resistance effect makes it a top choice for people who sit before computers for long hours. Since it reportedly helps keep one fit and has a whitening effect on skin colour, women prefer it.

Black Tea
Black tea is fermented tea which accounts for their darker colour. Unlike green tea, black tea does not lose its fragrance easily so it is suitable for long-distance transportation. This may explain why it was exported to the West. Black tea is believed to warm the stomach and is good in autumn and winter. The most famous black teas include Qi Hong, Dian Hong and Ying Hong. Hong means red and black tea is called Hong Cha (red tea) in Chinese.

Qi Hong originates from Qimen, Anhui Province. It has been the favourite black tea among Chinese black tea connoisseurs since it was developed in 1876. By 1939 this type of tea accounted for one-third of black tea consumed in China. Qihong, Darjeeling from India and Uva from Sri Lanka are the world's three major types of black tea.

Dian Hong is from Yunnan as Dian is the short name for Yunnan. The area's favourable climate ensures the widespread production of black tea, especially in southern and western areas.

Ying Hong is from Yingde, Guangdong. The British royal family enjoys its unique sweetness with milk added to it.

Oolong Tea
The elegant tea is sometimes known as the "champagne of teas". Oolong teas are partially fermented, resulting in a black-green tea. Drinking oolong tea features a whole set of tea wares from a small oven to a tea pot and tiny tea cups. Tea is poured into tiny teacups one by one. The mellowness of oolong tea as well as that of friendship is strengthened as time passes by. The three major oolong growth areas are Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan. Tieguanyin has become the representative of oolong tea although the most precious is Dahongpao (Big red robe), which was once used as a tribute.

Tea compressed into the shape of brick is called brick tea. It is very popular among the Tibetan, Mongolian and Uigur for making yak butter tea or milk tea. For nomads, this kind of tea is easy to transport. There are many places in China producing brick tea, including Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang region.

Scented Tea
Scented tea is a mixture of flowers with green tea, black tea or oolong tea. The flowers include jasmine, orchid, plum, gardenia, rose, and sweet-scented osmanthus with jasmine being the most popular. There are strict rules about the proportion of flowers to tea. If there are too many flowers, the scent of flowers will dilute that of tea; if too few, the tea is not perfect. Scented tea is sweet, pleasant and delightful to the palate. Fuzhou in Fujian Province and Suzhou in Jiangsu Province have long been famous for jasmine tea.

There are four basic steps to selecting quality tea.
1. Observe. Good or fresh tea has a green lustre in a tight shape, but poor tea is loose and dull. The leaves should be dry enough to make a rustling noise in the palm.
2. Smell. The fragrance of tea should be pure without a charred taste or acid smell. Good tea, especially fresh tea, has a natural aroma like orchid or jasmine while poor tea smells stale.
3. Taste. You can taste the leaves by chewing them carefully. Good tea leaves have a fresh mellowness. You can also infuse some tea to see if the leaves extend smoothly and sink slowly to the bottom. Good tea liquor is emerald green or golden. It has a tint of bitterness with a lasting sweet aftertaste. Stale tea is malodorous and dark brown.
4. See the infused tea leaves. The infused tea leaves should be even without impurity.

After you purchase good tea, keep it in a dry cool place, avoiding direct sunshine. An airtight container is a good choice. Avoid putting teas of different aromas too close.