Traditional Chinese tea has always been an important part of Chinese culture. Even today, the practice of tea drinking is highly visible during business meetings, weddings and when receiving guests at home. In this article, we will explain in detail the different aspects of traditional Chinese tea, including the traditional types of tea, tea sets used, and the art & philosophy behind it.
Chinese Tea Types
Generally Chinese tea can be classified into the following kinds:
- Green tea
- Black tea
- Oolong tea
- Dark tea, including pu erh tea
- White tea
- Yellow tea
While all teas are made from a specific cultivar of the Camellia Sinenses tea plant, it’s mainly the production process that determines which category the processed tea leaves belong to. In may read in this article more about the production process behind each tea: Chinese tea types.
In this article, you find a whole list of traditional Chinese tea and their production region: Tea Names List
It’s hard to definite what is ‘traditional’ and what isn’t. For each of the categories listed above, there may be hundreds of kinds of teas, as those individual teas are usually named after their origin. Due to weather and soil conditions, and differences in nuances in local processing steps, each tea will taste different.
Perhaps a better way to determine whether a Chinese tea can be considered traditional is the way it is steeped. No matter what Chinese tea you get, if you put it inside a tea bag and prepare it simply in a large mug, that’s obviously not ‘traditional’. Neither are modern bubble teas with milk and tapioca pearls considered ‘traditional’.
In the next section, we’ll discuss what tea tools are used to brew tea the classic way.
Traditional Chinese Tea Set
Besides the tea, practising the art of Chinese tea requires specific tea tools. This includes teaware such as a teapot/gaiwan in which the tea is brewed, a tray, and a pitcher. For a discussion of all the tools, you may read this article: Traditional Chinese Tea Tools
While each tea person may decide on a different set and amount of tools, we believe that the following aspects of tea making distinguishes traditional brewing from modern brewing:
- High tea-to-water ratio: in traditional brewing, you use relatively a lot of tea for brewing small portions. As a result, the same tea leaves can generally be brewed many times. Instead, when you brew a tea bag, it’s usually brewed with a lot of water and just used once.
- Small tea vessels & small tea cups: due to the smaller portions, a small tea brewing vessel is used. Most people use clay tea pots or gaiwans that are on average about 150ml in size. These are then matched with much smaller cups that can hold about 30 ml of tea. Small cups also allow the tea to cooldown faster.
- A tea pitcher: A tea pitcher is also often know as a ‘fairness pitcher’. The use of a pitcher is often what confuses most beginners. After all, why pour tea in a pitcher first, while you can pour it right away into the cups? The answer is simple: with traditional brewing the brewing ties are short. Hence, when you pour it directly into the tea cups, the first poured cup of tea will taste lighter than the last cup you pour. Hence, the name ‘fairness pitcher’. For a more detailed explanation, you may read this article: Fairness Tea Pitcher Explained.
Traditional Chinese Tea Brewing Process
Tea ceremonies are often executed based on a different steeping steps. Here’s an article in which we discuss the 21 steps of tea brewing: 21 Step Gong Fu Tea Ceremony
While the above suggested read is stating 21 steps, it generally doesn’t require that many steps for a tea ceremony/session to be considered ‘traditional’. We believe, a traditional tea brewing session should at least include the following:
- Preheating teaware.
- Pre-rinsing tea leaves.
- Pouring tea in a pitcher and then pour into cups (as explained in the previous session).
Traditional Chinese Tea Art
However, traditional Chinese tea isn’t just about picking a tea, and following the steps to brew it. To understand the meaning behind it, one needs to understand the art and philosophy behind it. We explain this aspect in detail here: Chinese Tea Art, Philosophy & Religion
When one develops their own philosophy of brewing tea, and experience such activity as a form of art, that’s when the real essence of traditional Chinese tea is displayed.
Chinese tea benefits
At last, while you enjoy the taste of a wonderful cup of traditional Chinese tea and the calming aspect of its preparation, don’t forget that drinking tea regularly is also great for one's health! We recommend you to visit this section for articles on the health aspect of drinking Chinese tea.