1.

What is Tea
2. History of tea in China
3. Distinguish 6 Different types of Chinese tea
4. Intorducing Chinese Tea Utensils
5. Deomonstration on Tea Brewing
6. Practice of Tea Brewing

Tea connoisseruship

1. What is Tea
A cup of tea=tea leaf+water

Tea leaf has own characteristics:

- Edge: Serrate
- Vein: Obvious center vein/both sides have 5-15 pair of
vein
- Hair: Hair on the back of tea leave

Cemellia Sinensis
-Sinensis=China (Latin)
-a species of evergreen shrub, whose leaves produce tea
(100% tea leaves)

Where
Lu Yu : tea plantation in the South is good
Origin of tea tree: In Southwestern China=Bashu
area(Yunnan, Guizhou,sichuan)

name
cha originally known as tou ( bitter vegetable)
cha (land route )/ tey (sea route)

types of Chinese tea tree:

Big tree/small tree/small-leafed bush with multiple stems
( no pesticide) ( need)
Ingredients of tea
>600 chemical compounds identified in tea
Main ingredients:
Polyphenols ( Tea Polyphenols),Tea polysaccharides, Tea pigments,Alkaloids(Caffeine from gea is less caffeine than
coffee),Amino acids,Proteins,Tea Saponin, Vitamins, Mineral elements

6 type of tea:
1. Different degrees of fermentation
colour/shape
2. Different production process
green tea: fixation- to top the tea leaf oxidation at a desired
levelrolling- dry damp stripes
white tea: withering-remove excess water from the leaves
and allow very slight amount of oxidation
yellow tea: Swithering
greenish tea:stiring + fixation
black tea: post fermentation-some teas require additional
aging e.g. dark pu’er
dark tea : piing Fermentation

1. Prehistoric
-Shennong: legendary emperor of china
-drink tea soup
2. W/ E zhou dynasty
-tea growing in sichuan area
-tea tribute
-tea cultivation
-tea = herbal medicine and food
3. Qin Dynasty
-tea cultivation expand
-different ways of cooking/brewing tea
4. Han dynasty W/E
ppl prepared tea by boiling tea leaves together with spicy
substancees
-tea merchants start from W
-tea cakes starts from E
5. Jin dynasties
-serve guests Tea & Tea Snack
6. S & N Dynasties
-Tea common among Literati
-Influence of Taoism/ tea promoted health and longevity
7. Tang dynasty
-Englightenment + Economic prosperity Tea trade
-buddhist monks promote tea drinking
-tang ppl promoteLuYu
-tang ppl tea replaced wine in social activity
-tang ppl different methods in preparing the tea beverage,
e.g. boil tea leaves in pot tgt with ginger leek mint date
8. Song dynasty
-tea connoisseurship evolved
(R:emperor song huizong as a promoter of tea culture)
-improved production process and tea quality
-tea competition
-tea appraising became a popular custom and it was
relfected in the social and intellectual life of the period
-zen priest eisai brought back tea seeds to japan(1191)
-tea farming moved to S Fujian area
I. Yuan dynasty
-cream was often added to a bowl fo tea before serving
such practice was probably introduced by the mongolians
who had conquered China in the 13 th century
-tea became more commonly taken as a part of a meal
J. Ming Dynasty
-prepare tea by the steeping refined tea leaves in a teapot
K.Qing Dynasty
-followed the tradition of the Ming dynasty by the steeping
method
-more attention was paid to the quality of teapots used
-a new way in brewing tea, gongfu tea
Tea in song dynasty
-whisked tea
1) innovation in the way of tea drinking
-changed into the method of dian-cha/whisked tea
-trend of tea contest and had strict reqirement (e.g. the
appearance of the tea water should be freshly white,
greenish-white tea win over yellowish-white one)
-tea art drawing
3) frequent tea-horse trade and setting up of the officila run
tea for horse department 大關茶論

Teapot:porcelain clay glass

pitcher/tea cup/crucible/electric teapot/tea dish/tea
tray/gaiwan/towel