The origin of green tea-about 3000 years.
Green tea, one of the main tea leaves in China, refers to a beverage made from new leaves or buds of tea trees without fermentation, after deactivation, shaping and drying. Green tea is the earliest tea in China.
The process of steaming green tea was born out of the "steaming green tea" method in Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, steamed green tea developed into steamed green tea. In the Yuan Dynasty, the method of steaming green tea was more elaborate. In the process of processing, it is usually made according to tender buds. In the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Zhen's agricultural books first mentioned steaming green tea, and then rubbed it while it was hot. Modern green tea steaming technology is becoming more and more mature.
The origin of yellow tea-about 1400 years.
Yellow tea has existed since ancient times, but in different historical periods, different observation methods give different meanings to the concept of yellow tea. The earliest recorded concept of yellow tea in history is different from the yellow tea referred to today because of the original characteristics of tea varieties, and the buds and leaves of tea trees naturally appear yellow. For example, the famous Shouzhou Yellow Tea in Anhui Province and Mengding Yellow Bud in Sichuan as tribute tea in the Tang Dynasty were named after the leaves of the buds naturally turned yellow.
Historically, before the emergence of systematic tea classification theory, among many consumers, yellow tea was mostly identified by intuitive feelings. This method of identifying yellow tea confuses several processing methods and tea with great differences in tea quality, involving a variety of tea with different qualities.
As mentioned above, yellow tea named after fresh leaves with tender yellow buds is actually green tea. There are also coarse old green tea, sun-dried green tea and aged green tea; Both Lian Xin and Bao of green tea are yellow soup, which is easily mistaken for yellow tea.
The origin of black tea-1300 years history
Black tea should be made in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, later than yellow tea. However, the "black tea" before16th century in these records refers to the processing and coloring of green tea, which is different from what we now call "black tea" (green brick tea, Pu 'er tea, Anhua black tea, Liubao tea, etc.). ).
Hunan black tea originated in Anhua, and Anhua black tea was produced at the end of16th century. It is made by deactivating enzymes, kneading, piling, fermenting and drying. Yunnan Pu 'er cooked tea is made into sun-dried coarse tea by deactivating enzymes, rolling and sun-drying, and then it is subjected to moderate tide piling and sun-drying. The processing technology is quite complicated, after yellow tea.
The origin of black tea-more than 400 years of history
The ancestor of black tea was in China. The earliest black tea in the world was invented by tea farmers in Wuyishan tea area of Fujian in the Ming Dynasty in China, and it was named "Zhengshan Seed". The Jiang family in Wuyishan village is a small-scale tea family that produces black tea in Zhengshan, with a history of more than 400 years. American Webster's dictionary Qimen Black Tea records the origin of Qimen black tea-Qimen County, Anhui Province, China.
Small black tea is developed from fried green. Sunlight instead of fixing green is a further development on the basis of frying green. After rolling, I found that the leaves turned red faster, so I gradually understood the law of color change. After that, the dough is piled up for a moment at the end of kneading, so that its redness is more obvious and its quality changes greatly. Then fry and bake, and the color, smell and taste will change completely.
The origin of white tea-about 1800 years.
White tea is a kind of micro-fermented tea, which is a traditional famous tea created by tea farmers in China. White tea is a kind of picked tea, which is processed by sun drying or slow fire drying without enzyme fixation and twisting.
According to historical records, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a young man named Yin Zhen planted a homemade "tea" in his hometown, met the famous Confucian master Xu Shen, and was made difficult by his family, so he chewed "tea" on the floor under his eaves. At that time, Xu Shen's entire mansion was filled with rich tea fragrance.
Xu Shen paced out from the source and immediately invited Yin Zhen into the study to make tea, only to find that his face was beautiful, white leaves were like silver needles falling into a pot, and the soup was green and bright. The product tastes fresh, refreshing and mellow, and occasionally elegant and bitter. It also inspired his comments on "tea" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi, and translated the color, fragrance and taste of "tea" with "jade, brightness and jade".
The Origin of Green Tea (Oolong Tea)-1000 Years History
Oolong tea, also known as green tea, semi-fermented tea and fully fermented tea, has a wide variety, and it is a tea with distinctive China characteristics among several major teas in China. Oolong tea evolved from Gongchalong Formation and Fengbing in Song Dynasty and was created around 1725 (Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty). The pharmacological effects of oolong tea are outstanding in decomposing fat, losing weight, bodybuilding and so on. It is called "beauty tea" and "bodybuilding tea" in Japan.
Oolong tea originated in Fujian with a history of 1000 years. The formation and development of oolong tea should first be traced back to Beiyuan tea. Beiyuan tea is the earliest tribute tea in Fujian and the most famous tea after the Song Dynasty. There are more than ten kinds of books on the production and boiling of Beiyuan tea in history. Beiyuan is located in the Phoenix Mountain area of Jian 'ou, Fujian Province, where tea was produced in the late Tang Dynasty.