Wednesday May 26, 2010 | 2 comments
The tea ceremony has evolved over the ages, but has always remained – at its heart – water and leaves. I recently heard someone put another down for wanting to prepare tea in a not-so-conventional manner. She called it “disrespect for the leaf”. I call it finding your own perfect cup of tea. Tea has always been simply Camellia sinensis and water, but that camellia has taken on many different forms – compressed tea, leaf tea, and powdered tea. Someone had to step away from whatever the popular tea ceremony of the time was and create something new – their own tea ceremony with its perfect cup of tea.
We can follow one path in the evolution of the tea ceremony and the perfect cup of tea by following compressed white tea in China during the Tang dynasty to current matcha powder in Japan.
Over 5,000 years ago, the accidental discovery of tea by the Emperor Shen Nung first presented us with a ceremony of boiling leaves in water.
Tea then gained in popularity during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). At this time, tea was presented in compressed cakes that were boiled in water. Lu Yu covers the tea brick extensively in his Classic of Tea.
The tea ceremony and perfect cup of tea then changed in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The Song Dynasty was a period of great growth, with advancements in different fields. The popularity of tribute tea began in the Tang Dynasty, but in the Song Dynasty, the standards relating to tea rose according to more refined tastes. At this time, tea was presented in both a loose and a powdered form that was whisked in ceramic ware.
It is said that during the Song Dynasty, the monk Eisai brought the method of preparing tea in a powdered form to Japan. The Japanese, in turn, gave the tea community matcha, the highly regarded green tea powder.
Through all of these changes, two things have never changed – each cup of tea is still just water and leaves. During the day, I have the privilege of speaking with people on the phone about their specific tea ceremonies. Cups of tea vary as much as people do. I am not one to judge when I can’t talk someone out of using a metal tea ball or not decanting their tea after the recommended time. It is up to everyone to create their own tea ceremony that makes sense for them. The main goal at the end of the day is to help people enjoy their own personal and perfect cup and not push onto them what my idea of the perfect cup is. But if you ask, I will tell you.
I think you’ve made a good point here. I find myself biting my tongue each time I see someone doing it wrong – from my vantage point. On occasion however, I have had the opportunity to make a cup of tea for such a person and they remarked that it was “incredible” and why didn’t it taste as good when they made tea. I had them at that moment and I was able to explain about temperature, time and tea quality and its impact on flavor. I think the bottom line is, with education about tea and it’s preparation methods, people should choose for themselves.
I once spoke with a scientist who believed that tea was the healthiest beverage on the planet. He himself drank 8 cups a day religiously and believed his health was related to his tea consumption. I offered to send him some tea and a small pot to go along with it. His response was that he was 87 years old and that his taste buds were not very good. Don’t waste the good stuff on me, he said. His Lipton tea bags did the trick for him.
I know I am getting to this late, but I enjoyed this post a lot. I look forward to more enjoyable post in the future.
I have my own little “tea ceremony” in the sense that when ever someone has become a Good friend in my eyes I give them a tea cup.
Thanks again for the post.