History may not forgive us for spending such little time and effort on tea-literature when there should be epics and legends written on this celestial nectar. Thankfully, certain Asian cultures will be spared, especially Chinese and Japanese, for they have done their part. So, those of us who love (and sometimes live for) tea must value this heritage. And if not anything else, let’s read an ancient book and prepare tea just the way those ancients did.
Lu Yu, the 8th-century Chinese tea master, wrote a book called Chaking, considered to be the holy scripture of tea. In that book, he mentions several methods of preparing tea. It has to be noted that he was the master of boiled tea which is perhaps the oldest way of preparing tea. The Masala Chai of India is somewhat reminiscent of this form. The other two major forms include Whipped Tea (appreciated by Zen masters) and Steeped Tea (belongs to us, modern folks).
Now, let’s do this not-so-simple ancient tea-making exercise. Warning: It may take hours or days depending on how you do it. And if you are ready to take that call, let’s follow these steps:
- It’s time to go out in the garden and pick leaves. Remember, the nature of every tea-plant is different. To get the best flavours out of them, you need to pick the perfect leaves. According to Lu Yu, the best quality of leaves must have “creases like the leathern boot of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap of a mighty bollock, unfold like a most rising out of ravine, gleam like a lake touched by a Zephyr, and be wet and soft like fine earth newly swept by rain.”
- The next step is to prepare the tea-cakes. The fresh leaves are steamed to make them withered and dehydrated, then minced, and then pressed into a shape of cakes with a mold. They are baked and dried so that they can survive long.
- Now that we have the tea-cake, we toast it over an open flame. Keep turning it in order to avoid any burning. This is done slowly and by taking breaks, until all the water has evaporated. When cooled, the tea cake is crushed and passed through a sieve to extract only the finest powder.
- It’s time to boil some water. The water should not be under-boiled or over-boiled. And every ingredient has to be added at the right time.
- At the first boil, add a little bit of salt. When the edge of the pot has continuous strings of big bubbles, this is called the second boil. At this point, we take out some water and use a pair of bamboo tongs to stir the water in the pot. Now we add the powder. When this boils and splatters, add the earlier removed water. This way, the water does not over-boil and the essence of tea is preserved too.
- Now pour the tea into the (preferably) porcelain cup of blue colour. The colour is ideal as it lends additional greenness to the beverage.
Now that you have done all the hardwork, enjoy your cup of tea. Cheers!
Kalampedia 