Hall of Tea Properties

    Tea has been chanted for several thousand years since it was first discovered and used by Shennong.
    "There are seven matters related to the starting of a family's life, firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea." This old Chinese saying shows the indissoluble bond of Chinese people with tea.
    Generations of tea scholars have made countless explorations and trying of tea. But much development of tea properties was not made until the birth of Lu Yu's Tea Classic.
Through the ages, the growing, manufacturing, Preserving, drinking, utilizing, and the utensils of tea have developed their own unique skills, particular methods and appeals.

                     Storage of Tea
Environmental Factors Affecting Tea Quality
1. Temperature
    Chemical changes of oxidation and polymerization are closely related to temperature, the higher the temperature the quicker the reactions. It was confirmed that rate of tea browning was increased by 3 to 5 times when temperature is raised by 10 ℃.
2. Moisture
    Alimentary scientific theory revealed that components in absolutely dried foods were directly exposed to the air and easily be oxidized by oxygen in the air. When water molecules were aggregated with food components by hydrogen bonding, there formed a single molecular layer, the food seemed to be covered by a protection film. When tea moisture was about 3%, this single molecular protection film was formed. So the lipids in the tea were separated from oxygen in the air and prevented from oxidization by the film. On the contrary, when the moisture content was above this level, the water played a role of solvent instead of a protection film.
3.Oxygen
    Oxygen can aggregate with almost every element and form an oxidized product. But oxygen in the air is most commonly found in molecular form and therefore not very active.
4.  Illumination
      Light itself is a kind of energy. Illumination can increase the energy level of the whole system illuminated and is detrimental to tea storage.

               Storage of A Great Quantity Tea
1. Quick Lime storage method
      This method is always used in storing staples of high quality teas such as West Lake Longjing, Dongting Biluochun, Huangshan Maofeng and Jingning Huiming teas. Quick lime is used as a desiccating agent to keep the tea dry and to delay the deterioration of the tea. A sealed pottery container with a big belly but small mouth is usually used.
2. Charcoal Storage Method
     This method is always used in storing Oolong tea and sometimes Congou Black tea. Its principle and method are almost the same as quick lime storage method. The fully fired charcoal is covered with a fire pan or an earthen basin so that the fire goes out. 100 g of the prepared charcoal is wrapped in a clean cotton cloth and put in a pottery jar or an iron sheet bucket. The jar or bucket is then filled with the tea wrapped in craft paper and sealed up.
3. Vacuum and nitrogen-aerated Packing Method
     This is a major storage method of famous teas for recent years, especially small packaged famous teas. The tea to be stored is dried for up to three to five percent of moisture content and filled in a bag made of plastic and aluminium compound foil. The bag containing tea is then vacuumed up, refilled with nitrogen gas and then sealed.

                     Family storage of Tea
1.pottery Jar Storage
     Feng Mengzheng described in "Kuai Xue Tang Man Lu" that a big jar with bamboo leaves at the bottom was filled with tea, sealed and placed upside down to prevent gas leaking; the tea would not yellow even after summer. During home storage of small quantities of tea nowadays, tea with moisture content less than 6% is wrapped in craft paper and placed on the inside of a pottery jar. Quick lime wrapped in cloth was placed at the center of the tea packages. The quantity of quick lime depends on the quantity of tea.
2. Tin Storage Method
      This method is simple and popular in home storage of teas. The clean, commercial galvanized iron tin is filled with the purchased tea. To keep dry, a parcel of silica gel is put inside as a desiccating agent.
3. Plastic Bag Storage method
      Plastic bags, in various assortments and with properties, lower price and easy use, are the most popular packing materials for tea nowadays. Storing tea in plastic bags is one of the most simple and economical methods in home storage. It is important to choose appropriate plastic bag materials. First, plastic bags special for food packing instead of other non-food packing plastic bags are chosen. Second, the density of the plastic materials should be higher; low-pressure plastics are better than high-pressure ones. Third, its strength should be appropriate and it is better to choose a stronger one. Fourth, it should be free of contaminants and have no holes. Tea is first wrapped in a clean soft paper and then packed in the plastic bags.

             Biological Conformation of Tea Plants
    "Tea is a fine tree of the South". Tea plants, grown mainly in the South of China, are an important cash crop in China. Tea is made from fresh leaves picked from the tea plant.
     "Tea , essence of the mountains and quintessence of the soil". A tea's quality has strict demands on variety, soil, climate, environment and technique of cultivation and processing.
     Tea is a harmonious masterpiece of nature and human being

Morphology
Shrub-Type Tea Plant
Semi-Arbor-Type Tea Plant
Arbor-Type Tea Plant

Organs
Seeds 
Flowers
Shoots
Roots 
Leaves

                        Infusion skills
   Everyone likes to drink tea but it is not easy to brew a cup of fine tea with superior color, aroma and taste. Brewing skill is a learned art for a tea lover.
    Tea brewing is a process tracing back to the life of the tea (planting-processing-storage). The lofty ideal of tea planters and manufacturers is to develop and preserve the color, aroma and taste of tea, while the wish of tea tasters is to enjoy the color, aroma and taste of the tea; brewing skill is the bridge of the both.
    Brewing a pot of fine tea is influenced by many factors such as the nature of the water, water volume, water temperature, tea type and quality, tea quantity, infusing duration and tea sets. So it is important to stress the precision and artistry of brewing.
    As for the precision of brewing, the inherent quality of tea should be volatilized and extracted relying on the fact that the characteristics of various teas and scientific brewing skills are mastered. Here the nature of water, the temperature of water, the quantity of tea and the duration of brewing are most important.
    As for artistry of brewing, appropriate tea sets for various teas should be used, while traditional and elegant brewing operation and arts should be stressed.
    To make fine tea, water choices and skillful brewing techniques are very important. As for preparing loose tea, brewing in a pot and infusing in a cup became perfected over hundreds of years. It was a process from "non-order" to "order" and from "non-promise" to "promise". It emphasizes traditional processes and combinations of image and expression. The operator should have mental preparation, be familiar with nature of the tea, set his mind on doing it well, i.e. the "idea of tea" as the saying goes. The operation should be elegant, natural, appropriate, leisurely, and methodical so that the host and the guests be absorbed in the process of brewing and tasting. This inspires the taster to be in an ideal state and be a charmed by the tea with perfect enjoyment and perception.

                         Tea and Water
   The ancients said: "Water is the mother of tea." A fine tea should be infused with good water. It was reflected that people delight in talking about the "double uniqueness" of Hangzhou - "Longjing tea and Tiger-Running spring water". There was also a saying handed down from ancient times: "Tea from the top of Mengshan Mountain and water from Yangtze River were the best choices."
    Ancient people studied waters used for brewing tea as a special discipline.
    Xu Cishu of the Ming Dynasty described in his book  "Tea Report" that the essence of a fine tea was volatilized by water, he wrote that tea could not be evaluated without water. Zhang Dafu discussed in his "Meihuacaotang Conversation by Writing" that the nature of tea was discovered in water; one hundred percent perfect tea liquid could be obtained when eighty percent perfect tea was infused with one hundred percent perfect water, while eighty percent perfect tea liquid could be obtained when one hundred percent perfect tea was brewed with eight percent perfect water". Zhang Yuan described in  "Tea Records" that“Tea was the god of water and water the foundation of tea".

              Infusing Procedure of Longjing Tea

                Infusing Procedure of Gongfu Tea

    As early as the Qing dynasty, the "Gongfu tea" brewing method has been considered as stemming from the "Tea Classic" of Lu Yu.
    An extraordinary and quaint tea set, also called "Four Treasures", is required to brew "Gongfu tea". It includes: first, "Yu Shu Wei", a reddish brown oblate sphere pottery kettle, with capacity of 4 Liang water (about 200 ml); second, "a Chaoshan wind stove", a stove for heating water; third, "a Mengchen Guan", an exquisite Yingxing purple sandy clay tea pot with size similar to goose egg and capacity of 1 Liang water (about 50ml), which according to legend was first developed by Hui Mengchen, a craftsman of no equal of his time; fourth, "Ruo Shen Ou", four extraordinary small white porcelain cups placed on an elliptic porcelain tray.
    Generally, Oolong tea is used and sometimes Broken Black Tea is also used during Gongfu tea brewing.
    Before brewing "Gongfu" tea, tea sets are generally cleaned and warmed. Then the water is heated by a charcoal fire. The teapot "Meng Chen Guan" is half filled with tea and then filled to the brim with boiling water by "high pouring" such that the tea leaves inside are heated evenly while diving up and down. Sometimes, boiling water is poured over the pot with lid replaced to keep the hot temperature of water inside, and to extract and volatilize the tea flavor. This process is generally called "You Hu" (traveling pot).
    The four small teacups are arranged in a square array on the tray. When the tea aroma emits from the pot, the tea liquid in the pot is poured into the four cups with the pot moving in circles above the four cups so that concentration of the liquid in each cup is the same. This method is called "Guan Gong patrolling the castle". The last drops of the liquid are also dripped evenly into the four cups, which is called "Han Xin Dian Bing" (Han Xin Counting Soldiers).

    As early as the Qing dynasty, the "Gongfu tea" brewing method has been considered as stemming from the "Tea Classic" of Lu Yu.
    An extraordinary and quaint tea set, also called "Four Treasures", is required to brew "Gongfu tea". It includes: first, "Yu Shu Wei", a reddish brown oblate sphere pottery kettle, with capacity of 4 Liang water (about 200 ml); second, "a Chaoshan wind stove", a stove for heating water; third, "a Mengchen Guan", an exquisite Yingxing purple sandy clay tea pot with size similar to goose egg and capacity of 1 Liang water (about 50ml), which according to legend was first developed by Hui Mengchen, a craftsman of no equal of his time; fourth, "Ruo Shen Ou", four extraordinary small white porcelain cups placed on an elliptic porcelain tray.
    Generally, Oolong tea is used and sometimes Broken Black Tea is also used during Gongfu tea brewing.
    Before brewing "Gongfu" tea, tea sets are generally cleaned and warmed. Then the water is heated by a charcoal fire. The teapot "Meng Chen Guan" is half filled with tea and then filled to the brim with boiling water by "high pouring" such that the tea leaves inside are heated evenly while diving up and down. Sometimes, boiling water is poured over the pot with lid replaced to keep the hot temperature of water inside, and to extract and volatilize the tea flavor. This process is generally called "You Hu" (traveling pot).
    The four small teacups are arranged in a square array on the tray. When the tea aroma emits from the pot, the tea liquid in the pot is poured into the four cups with the pot moving in circles above the four cups so that concentration of the liquid in each cup is the same. This method is called "Guan Gong patrolling the castle". The last drops of the liquid are also dripped evenly into the four cups, which is called "Han Xin Dian Bing" (Han Xin Counting Soldiers).

                      Three-Boiling Diagram
    Ancient people were very particular about heating water called "Tang Hou".
    As early as the Tang Dynasty, Lu Yu summed up a three-boiling method of heating water in Chapter Five "Brewing" of the "Tea Classic". When the water first boils, an image appears like the eyes of fishes are on the surface; this is the first boiling. Then appears something like a spring rushing forth and a string of pearls at the side of the caldron; this is the second boiling. Then along come the waves and breakers; this is the third boiling.
    Lu Yu considered that water of the third boiling was over-boiled and should not be drunk. He pointed out that seasonings should be put in during the first boiling and tea be put in during the second boiling.
    During the Song Dynasty, however, a kettle with a small neck was used to heat water instead of the uncovered caldron used in Tang Dynasty, as a requirement of  "dian cha" (infusing tea). Then it was difficult to identify the "Hou Tang" with naked eyes. So Cai Xiang said: "Hou Tang was the most difficult". Therefore, another method and standard to identify "Hou Tang" was proposed, i.e. identifying by hearing the sound of boiling water.
Song's people considered that when the water first boiled, noise like insects chirping could be heard. This was the first boiling. When the sound was like a cart rumbling, this was the second boiling. When the water sound was like the singing of the wind in the pines or the murmuring stream, this was the third boiling. Then it was time to take up the kettle and pour the boiling water into the cups containing tea powder. The earlier three boiling was required in the "Hou Tang" because the infusing method of Song Dynasty was different from the cooking method of Tang Dynasty.

                        Tea and Health
    "No Emperor Wei Di's drug pills are needed if one drinks seven cups of Lu Tong's tea".
    Tea was used as a drug when it first entered human life. It is generally considered that tea had been used as a drug before the Qin and Han Dynasty.
    In the Tea Classic, Lu Yu mentioned again the "medicinal property" of tea when he analyzed the nature of tea. He pointed out that tea had several functions: refreshing, keeping one's head cool, relaxing, detoxifying and curing boils. Chen Cangqi of the Tang Dynasty made it more clean in "Ben Cao Shi Yi" when he wrote that tea was a miraculous drug that can cure any disease.
    In the Ming Dynasty, Qian Chunshou wrote in his work "Tea Manual" that drinking real tea could quench thirst, help digestion, get rid of illness, decrease sleep, improve eyesight, benefit thinking, suppress dyspepsia and dispel grease. Li Shizhen confirmed the pharmaceutical functions of tea from the Chinese medicinal theory point of view and he developed various decocting and administration methods.
    According to various historical references, more than 20 pharmaceutical functions of tea were summed up by scholars of later ages. These include: sleeping less, calming nerves, benefiting eyesight, stimulating the head up, helping to produce saliva and slaking thirst, dispelling heat, detoxifying, helping digestion, sobering up, dispelling grease, farting, stimulating evacuation of faeces, curing dysentery, casing expectoration, relieving rheumatic pains and colds, strengthening teeth, curing children's boils, curing fistula, increasing physical power and prolonging life.
    In the twentieth century, with the development of biochemistry and the involvement of medical science, the pharmaceutical functions of tea have been further understood. It was confirmed that tea contained caffeine, various vitamins and amino acids. Tea has an obvious curative effect on many common diseases, such as preventing dental caries, disinfecting, alleviating poisonous effect of smoking on human body, detoxifying poisonous effects of heavy metals, anti-radiation, lowering blood pressure and blood sugar, anti-arteriosclerosis,  anti-mutation and anti-aging. Tea is now wins the praise of an atomic era beverage.

                          Works on Water
     Lu Yu was the first person to discuss and evaluate waters used for brewing tea in the writing called "Tea Classic". He pointed out that flow mountain water was the best, river water was the next and well water was the worst. Among waters from the mountains, water from springs stone ponds and murmuring streams were the best.
 On this basis, tea scholars of the later ages summed up the standards for evaluating water from the nature by the following qualities: clarity, cleanliness, light, sweetness , flow.
 Clear: the water should be colorless and transparent, without precipitates.
     Light: Emperor Qinglong measured spring waters everywhere using a special silver "dou" (a measuring container). He concluded that spring water from Sanquan Mountain of Beijing was the lightest and wrote an inscription for it: "The First Spring under Heaven". Today, the evaluation was understood by calcium and magnesium content analyzed with modern technology (i.e. hard water or soft water).
     Sweet: It referred to the fresh taste of water.
     Cold: The water should be cold before heated. The ancient people thought it estimable to cook tea in snow water.
     Clean: The water should be free from dirt or contaminants.
     Flowing: Su Shi's poem reads that "Fresh water should be heated from running water". Tang Geng of the Song Dynasty described in his "Tea Competition Notes" that water could be from either river or well, the important thing was that it was flowing". Stagnant water should mot be used.

                 Modern Scientific Indicators
    With the advancement of modern science and technology, standards for the nature of water were raised, including:
1.  Suspended matter: content of insoluble solid substance isolated by filtration.
2.   Soluble solid matter: total content of soluble mineral elements.
3.  Hardness: content of the most common elements such as calcium and magnesium in                 natural water.
4.  Alkalinity: content of subjects which can accept hydrogen ions.
5.  pH value: a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution
Water for brewing tea, should have a lower content of suspended matters, but no visible suspended particles. The water hardness should be less than 5 degrees, and pH less than 5. Surface water in non-saline areas can also be used