Chinese Tea Culture There have been cycles and schools of tea culture in China. There are three main periods: Boiling, Whisking and Bre...
Chinese Tea Culture | |
| There have been cycles and schools of tea culture in China. There are three main periods: Boiling, Whisking and Brewing. In our age, this last school of China makes its weight felt. The clay pot in which tea was boiled and the brewed tea leaves testify to the Tang, Song and Ming Chinese dynasties. Old books mentioning tea with names such as t'u, tsö, çong, k'a and ming wrote that this plant has healing properties such as relieving fatigue, calming, energizing and strengthening the eyes. Although it is mostly used internally, it has also been used externally in the form of ointment in the treatment of rheumatism.  | |
Boiling Tea In the early period, the leaves were steamed, crushed in a mortar, placed in a bowl, and boiled with rice, ginger, salt, orange peel, spices, milk, and sometimes even onions. Today, this custom is seen among Tibetans and some Mongolian tribes who prepare special syrups with different ingredients. The fact that the Russians, who knew tea in Chinese caravanserais, added lemon slices to tea must be a continuation of this old custom.  Water and its boiling time are very controversial. Lu Yü suggested spring water in this regard. He mentions three stages during boiling: the first stage, where bubbles like fish eyes appear on the surface of the water, the second stage, where bubbles similar to crystal beads rolling in a spring are seen, and the third stage, where angry waves cluster in the kettle. Salt is added in the first stage, tea is added in the second, and cold water is added in the third boiling stage. Then the cups were filled and tea was drunk. | |
Lo T'ong, one of the poets of the Tang period, said, "The first cup wets my lips and mouth, the second wipes away my loneliness, the third reveals what is inside me, the fourth makes me sweat and all my troubles fly out of my pores. In the fifth cup I am purified, the sixth takes me to the kingdom of immortality, the seventh... ah "I can't drink any more! I just feel a cool wind blowing my arms. Where is P'eng-le Şan? Let me ride this sweet wind and get away from here." Whipped tea The birth of the second tea school coincides with the Song Dynasty. After the leaves were ground into powder in a small stone mill, they were whisked in hot water with a brush made of bamboo. During this period, salt was completely abandoned. Tea presentations came to the fore. Emperor Hueitsong exhausted his treasury to obtain rare teas. He wrote an essay in which he described twenty types of tea. He preferred the rarest " White Tea ". | |
| Brewed Tea In the 17th century, China fell under the yoke of the Manchus. There have been radical changes in traditions. Tea was now drunk after steeping the leaves in a bowl or cup filled with hot water.  Eating Tea The tea people like varies depending on the region. For example, Beijingers prefer jasmine tea, Shanghainese prefer green tea, and Fujianese people in southeast China prefer red tea. In some regions, people like to put different spices in tea. For example, in the southern Hunan region, guests are welcomed with ginger and salt tea. This tea also contains salt, ginger, toasted soybean seeds and sesame seeds. Tea is drunk by shaking the tea glass, and soybean seeds, sesame seeds, ginger and tea are finally put into the mouth and chewed until a pleasant smell emerges. For this reason, in some regions it is also called "eating tea". Each region has its own unique tea brewing method. People living in eastern China like to use large teapots when brewing tea. As soon as the guest enters the door, the host pours tea into his large teapot and pours boiled water into it. Then he pours the brewed tea into a glass and offers it to the guest. Gongfu tea is drunk in China's Fujian province. Gongfu tea has a special teapot and its brewing style is also different. Brewing and drinking gongfu tea has become a special tea art. Tea drinking traditions are different in various regions of China. In Beijing, when the host offers tea, the guest immediately stands up and thanks the host by holding the tea cup with both hands. In the Guangdong and Guangsi regions of southern China, when the host brings tea, the guest expresses his gratitude by tapping the table three times with the fingers of his right hand. In some regions, if the guest wants to continue drinking tea, he leaves some tea in the cup. When the host sees this, he continues to pour tea. If the tea in the glass is completely finished, the host realizes that it is enough and does not pour it again.  | |
| French Tea Culture | |
| French intellectuals have a special love of tea. In addition to the common tea rooms, there are small chains of tea shops selling a variety of teas with romantic names. In French culture, tea is served in a fine porcelain cup without being steeped for a long time. A small chocolate, croquant or praline is served alongside a light tea. | |
| British Tea Culture | |
| The British, who were introduced to tea through their colony India at the end of the 17th century, gradually made tea an integral part of their lives. The fact that tea was initially expensive prevented it from becoming a widespread beverage. This made tea a feast reserved for high-level meetings, a gift reserved for princes and nobles. The British prefer Eraly Gray tea. This intensely scented tea is prepared by blending it with bergamot essence. Today, in England, a cup of tea is offered to anyone who comes by as a sign of hospitality. The small afternoon tea invitation, called 'Afternoon Tea' and presented to the world, is intended for friends to come together and has been going on since the time of King Edward. By the way, did you know that the Queen of England carries her tea water with her on all her trips?  | |
| Japanese Tea Culture | |
Tea, like many other things, moved from China to Japan, but the Japanese documented the history of tea better, deepened the ritual, and turned it into their own tea drinking tradition in line with their ceremonial food culture. The Japanese tea tradition, which has a close relationship with the philosophical and religious worldview of Taoism, Buddhism and Zen, has no other equivalent. In the Japanese tea tradition, which is a ritual related to the inner world rather than to pleasure, it has a more important place than wine, which symbolizes the blood of Jesus, in Catholic ceremonies. The primary task of this ceremony, which takes place in private tea houses, is to host the guests in the most appropriate and elegant way. There is no single way to prepare a perfect tea. As a work of art, tea shows its finest qualities in the hands of its master. Just as there is good or bad painting, there is also good or bad tea. One of the three worst things in the world is a perfect tea ruined by poor preparation. The Japanese regard tea as an art. Like other arts, tea art also had periods and schools. There are three main periods: Boiling, Whisking and Brewing. Today, the weight of the last school is felt. Although brewed tea is used in daily use, powdered tea prepared by the whisking method is always considered the master of teas.
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| Mongolian Tea Culture | |
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| Russian Tea Culture | |
| It is a tradition in Russia to drink tea with every meal. Russians brew their tea in a samovar and drink it by adding unbleached sugar and lemon juice. A real tea drinker does not add sugar to his Russian tea, but drinks his tea by putting the sugar in his mouth. Among those who keep the old culture alive, there are those who put a teaspoon of cream in tea instead of sugar, as well as those who drink tea by pouring it on a coaster, as in some regions of Anatolia. Tea is served to guests with marmalade. The guest places the saucer on top of the glass to prevent more tea from coming out. Resources: 1) Tea Book, Okakura Kakuzo, Translated by: Ayça Ögel, Anahtar Kitaplar Publishing House 2) Pictures were obtained from different sites 3) CRI Online 4) Your Great Days In Paris 5) Mental Flos  | |
| Turkish Tea Culture | |
Although tea, which has a history of 5000 years, entered the life of the Turks late, it entered the life of the Turks cleanly. In addition to drinking tea throughout the day, it cannot be ignored what we have added to the cultural history of tea with our contributions such as our unique brewing method, slim-waisted glass cups, and kitlama tea. The first of these is that we analyze skillfully and beautifully the condition that the teapot must be hot, which is one of the indispensable rules of brewing good tea, by placing the teapot on top of the teapot. Despite that; To prevent the tea from becoming bitter and spoiling its taste; After brewing, we do not filter the tea and pour it into another teapot, and that is another aspect of the matter. Well, what is not in Turkish tea culture; The American invention is tea bags, tea balls and nets, overly flavored teas, putting too much milk and lemon in tea, brewing tea in a metal teapot, that is, being careless with tea. Although the Turks knew about tea before coming to Anatolia; Tea came to Turkey only a few hundred years ago. Tea drinking has become widespread in Anatolia since the 19th century. The following story is told about the spread of tea among Turks: One day, Hodja Ahmet Yesevi becomes a guest of one of the Turkestan villages on the Khitay border. He was very tired because the weather was very hot that day. The wife of the Turkmen's neighbor, whose house he hosted, is about to give birth. Turkmen asks for prayers from Hodja Ahmet Yesevi, and Ahmet Yesevi also prays. With God's permission, the Turkmen's wish will come true immediately. Turkmen would be very pleased with this situation. He boils and brings tea, which is an important treat of that region. When Hodja Ahmet Yesevi drinks hot tea, he sweats and relieves fatigue. Then he prayed, "This is a healing thing. Give your patients to drink this so that they will be healed. May God make this popular until the day of judgment." After that, tea started to be used among all Turks and became a healing drink. Tea has an important place in folk culture and ethnography. Today, tea has strengthened its place in our social life to an extent that it cannot be replaced and lives with the culture formed around it.Tea, which is in our lives from breakfast to late at night, has led to the emergence of different cultural values.  About tea; Nursery rhymes, riddles, poems and folk songs, hymns, legends, jokes, traditions and customs are cultural values in themselves. In fact, even though the word tea is Chinese, it has found its place in dictionaries and idioms and has reached a large number of words and expressions. Tea, Tea Garden, Tea Cup, Brewing Tea, Tea Cup, Tea Sapling, Tea Seedling, Tea Spoon, Tea Set, Giving Tea, Tea Break, Tea Maker, Tea Farming, Teapot, Tea Money, Teahouse, Tea family, Tea House, Tea Boiler etc. next to words; It has led to the emergence of expressions such as Rabbit's Blood Tea, Drinking Tea, Kıtlama Tea, Slurping Tea, Serving Tea, Pasha Tea.
Tea culture, from its cultivation to its preparation and consumption, has also revealed a tea ethnography. Scissors for cutting tea, baskets, boxes, teapots, samovars, tea cauldrons, glasses, cups, spoons, trays, etc. They are all ethnographic materials centered around tea culture. The most important of these is the samovar culture, which we cannot distinguish from the tea itself. The samovar began to be widely used in Central Asia since the 19th century. With the inheritance from Ahmet Yesevi, it has come to be believed that just as tea is healing, the samovar is also a dispenser of healing. It is seen as a source of life, love and a cure for troubles. It was so believed that the samovar was healing, that the samovar was boiled and tea was drank to relax people after the bathhouse and at mawlid ceremonies. The samovar has a place of its own in our literature. The samovar has been compared to a healing house. Until yesterday, the coffee and tea gardens of my country, emulating the "cafes", eliminated glass cups and started serving in porcelain or glass cups. And of course, tea bags entered our lives, and apart from "cafes", in some homes, our hundred-year-old tea brewing methods were immediately shelved and tea bags started to be served in cups. Fortunately, it is now beginning to dawn on us that offering tea bags to tourists in a porcelain/ceramic cup is not such a smart thing to do. I don't know if the news that "Greeks serve tea in thin-waisted glass cups" had an impact on this, but recently, starting from "cafes" and tea gardens, glass cups have begun to be used, even though they are not the ideal size, upon the insistence of tea lovers. You know, those big glasses called "Ajda Pekkan glasses" for some reason. But of course, small, thin-waisted glasses are what real tea lovers love. In addition to drinking tea throughout the day, it is undeniable what we have added to the cultural history of tea with our contributions such as our unique brewing method, thin-waisted glass cups, and kitlama tea, especially if we remember that it has also entered our epics, folk songs, hymns and poems... When talking about Tea, isn't Erzurumlu mentioned? People from Rize grow tea. But the people of Erzurum also drink tea. Tea is drunk differently in Erzurum. Everyone drinks tea, but the people of Erzurum drink different tea. He drinks and drinks... what he says... 
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While serving the tea, pepper can be sprinkled along with butter or clotted cream. It is a very high-calorie drink and is very effective in quenching thirst. It is usually drunk at breakfast. (For 1 liter of beverage, 6-10 grams of dry tea, 500 grams of milk, 500 grams of water, 25 grams of butter or 50 grams of cream, salt and red pepper.)
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