在唐代之前，铁观音茶并不是单纯的饮料

在唐代之前，茶并不是单纯的饮料

中国是茶叶的发源地，也是最早利用茶叶的国度。但茶叶从被发现以来（传说神农氏发现了茶），长期被当做药，或者是一种和葱、姜、蒜差不多的调味料。直到中唐左右才慢慢变为一种单纯的饮料。不过唐代饮茶还保留着像煮菜汤一样的煮法，并且加点盐调味。这种喝茶方式跟煎药差不多，所以被称为“煎茶法”。直到宋代，制茶的时候还会往茶叶里加点香料什么的来增加香气，不过唐宋之际人们开始慢慢意识到茶本身就有非常美好的香气，并主张不添加其他香料的清饮方式。我们熟悉的茶叶泡饮方式则是晚明才逐步形成的。

博物馆里的唐三彩茶器 拍摄：紫笋

▐ 中国茶饮在日本的发展

中国茶及饮茶方式总共经历了三次向日本传播的过程，其中第一次是在唐代，但并没有形成广泛的流传和影响；第二次在宋代，得到了当时日本统治阶级的支持，并吸收了佛教思想形成了抹茶道；第三次则在晚明，但没有得到日本统治阶层的支持，形成的是仅在日本文人阶层流行的煎茶道。

抹茶道

在宋代，人们喝茶的时候不再往茶汤里加盐，而改为把磨细的茶粉放在碗里先用一点水调成浓稠的茶膏，再用沸水一边冲点一边击打形成丰富的泡沫。这种饮茶方式被称为“点茶法”，也叫“末茶法”。末茶的“末”指的是磨细的茶粉，茶末儿，所以是没有提手旁的。不过这种饮法方式传到日本后演变成了一整套带有宗教意味的程序，并多了提手旁。这是大家比较熟知的抹茶道。

宋代点茶最喜欢用的建盏，兔毫纹的为上，图里的这个不是

这其中所用的抹茶也不是普通的绿茶粉，而是在采摘前经过覆盖遮阴处理，蒸汽杀青后不经揉捻直接干燥，并用石磨研磨而成的极细茶粉。所以，抹茶道是一整套仪式和程序，抹茶则是所用到的茶粉，二者含义并不完全相同。

煎茶道

至于比较小众的煎茶道，则起源于晚明时期中国流行的泡饮法，也就是直接用沸水冲泡散叶茶的喝法。这种饮用方式更为方便日常。由此可知，日本煎茶道并不是我们国家唐代煎茶法，而更接近我们今天喝茶的方式。只不过日本煎茶道喝的茶是日本“煎茶”。这是一种和抹茶一样采用蒸汽杀青，并经过揉捻、烘干和精制而成的茶。

▐ 中国茶那么多，却不是同时形成的

前面说到唐代的煎茶法和宋代的末茶法用到的都是一种叫做蒸青团茶的茶，这是一种现在已经不再生产了的绿茶。我们现在熟知的绿茶，比如西湖龙井、洞庭碧螺春、信阳毛尖、黄山毛峰这些大多是明清以后才出现的。

用盖碗泡黄山毛峰 拍摄：紫笋

红茶和乌龙茶大约出现在明末清初，红茶的创制早于工序更为复杂的乌龙茶。这几年流行起来的、制作工序最少的白茶则创制时间最晚，大约在清朝末年。红茶、乌龙茶、白茶的制作都起始于萎凋（一种将茶鲜叶静置并让它自然蒸发水分的过程）。

茶叶的萎凋失水 拍摄：紫笋

黑茶和黄茶的出现早于红茶，起源于绿茶工艺。绿茶、黑茶和黄茶的制作都起始于杀青（一种通过高温终止茶叶内部酶活性的工艺，形式主要有蒸汽杀青的蒸青、锅炒杀青的炒青）。现在除了湖北的恩施玉露茶采用蒸青外，其余绿茶基本采用锅炒杀青。

绿茶的现代锅炒杀青 拍摄：陈华葵

▐ 你现在的喝茶方式，起源于明清时期

就有记载的文献来看，我们现在喝茶的方式和明清时期的人们在本质上并没有多大区别。比如，在杯子里放一点茶叶然后用开水冲的“撮泡法”；以及用小茶壶泡茶的“壶泡法”。

最主要的原因是，虽然现在的制茶工艺越来越精细，但现代茶叶的制作格局在明清时期已经基本形成，而茶叶的饮用方式是与茶叶的加工相适应，并紧跟着生活方式的改变而变化。比如，现在人喝茶跟明清时期的人喝茶最大的区别就是用电烧水而不生炭炉。

Before the Tang Dynasty, tea was not a simple drink

China is the birthplace of tea and the first country to use tea. But since tea was discovered (it is said that Shennong discovered tea), it has been used as medicine for a long time, or a seasoning similar to onion, ginger and garlic. It was not until the mid-Tang Dynasty that it slowly became a simple drink. However, drinking tea in the Tang Dynasty still retains the same cooking method as cooking soup, and adds a little salt to taste. This way of drinking tea is similar to decoction, so it is called "sencha method". Until the Song Dynasty, some spices were added to the tea leaves to increase the aroma. However, during the Tang and Song Dynasties, people gradually realized that the tea itself has a very good aroma, and advocated a clear drinking method without adding other spices. . The way we are familiar with tea brewing was gradually formed in the late Ming Dynasty.

Tang Sancai Tea Vessels in the Museum Photo: Purple Bamboo Shoots

▐ The development of Chinese tea in Japan

Chinese tea and tea drinking methods have gone through the process of spreading to Japan three times in total. The first time was in the Tang Dynasty, but it did not form a wide spread and influence; the second time was in the Song Dynasty, with the support of the Japanese ruling class at that time. And absorbed Buddhist thought to form the matcha tea ceremony; the third time was in the late Ming Dynasty, but without the support of the Japanese ruling class, it formed the sencha ceremony, which was only popular among the Japanese literati.

matcha tea ceremony

In the Song Dynasty, people no longer added salt to the tea soup when they drank tea, but instead put the ground tea powder in a bowl with a little water to make a thick tea paste, and then poured it with boiling water and beat it to form a thick tea paste. Rich foam. This way of drinking tea is called "point tea method", also known as "last tea method". The "end" of the end tea refers to the finely ground tea powder, the end of the tea, so there is no handle next to it. However, after this drinking method was introduced to Japan, it evolved into a whole set of procedures with religious meaning, and there were more handles. This is the well-known matcha tea ceremony.

In the Song Dynasty, the most favorite Jianzhan for tea ordering, the one with the rabbit hair pattern is the best.

The matcha used in this one is not an ordinary green tea powder, but a very fine tea powder that has been covered and shaded before picking, steam-fixed, dried directly without rolling, and ground with a stone mill. Therefore, the matcha ceremony is a set of rituals and procedures, while matcha is the tea powder used, and the meanings of the two are not exactly the same.

Sencha Ceremony

As for the relatively small sencha ceremony, it originated from the brewing method popular in China in the late Ming Dynasty, that is, the method of brewing loose-leaf tea directly with boiling water. This way of drinking is more convenient for daily use. From this, it can be seen that the Japanese Sencha Ceremony is not the method of Sencha in the Tang Dynasty in our country, but is closer to the way we drink tea today. It's just that the tea used in the Japanese Sencha Ceremony is Japanese "sencha". This is a tea that is steam-fixed like matcha, and is kneaded, dried and refined.

▐ There are so many Chinese teas, but they are not formed at the same time

As mentioned earlier, the sencha method in the Tang Dynasty and the final tea method in the Song Dynasty used a kind of tea called steamed green tea, which is a green tea that is no longer produced. Green teas that we are familiar with now, such as West Lake Longjing, Dongting Biluochun, Xinyang Maojian, and Huangshan Maofeng, mostly appeared after the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Soak Huangshan Maofeng in a Gaiwan Photo: Purple Bamboo Shoots

Black tea and oolong tea appeared around the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and the creation of black tea was earlier than that of oolong tea with more complicated processes. The white tea with the least production process, which has become popular in recent years, was created at the latest, around the end of the Qing Dynasty. The production of black, oolong, and white tea all starts with withering (a process in which the fresh leaves of the tea are left to stand and allow the water to evaporate naturally).

The withering and water loss of tea leaves Photo: Purple bamboo shoots

Black tea and yellow tea appeared earlier than black tea and originated from green tea craftsmanship. The production of green tea, dark tea and yellow tea all starts with killing green tea (a process that terminates the enzyme activity inside tea leaves through high temperature, mainly in the form of steamed green tea, which is steam-fixed, and stir-fried green with pot-frying). Now, except for Enshi Yulu tea in Hubei, which is steamed, the rest of the green tea is basically fried in a pot.

The modern pan-frying of green tea is done. Photo: Chen Huakui

▐ Your current way of drinking tea originated in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

According to the recorded literature, the way we drink tea now is not much different in essence from that of people in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For example, put a little tea leaves in a cup and then brew it with boiling water.

The main reason is that although the current tea-making process is becoming more and more sophisticated, the production pattern of modern tea has basically been formed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the way of drinking tea is adapted to the processing of tea and closely follows the lifestyle. changes with the change. For example, the biggest difference between people drinking tea today and people drinking tea in the Ming and Qing Dynasties is that they use electricity to boil water instead of charcoal stoves.