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The plant

The is named 茶 chá . The drink is the infusion of sheets of the plant the CAMELIA sinensis , the tea plant, or 茶樹/茶树 cháshù in Chinese.

The Chinese, at eighth century BC, named indifferently a certain number of bitter plants by the term 荼 tú (the character has a horizontal feature moreover than 茶 chá ; it is formed of the key grass, 艸 cǎo , in its reduced form, 艹 and of 余 yú according to sound record), with the number of which one can count the itself but also the snap ring. The drink obtained by infusion, decorated various aromatic plants, like the Ginger and the Welsh onion, was connected more with one bubble. The plant was distinguished from different later, and was called 檟苦荼 jiǎkǔtú (where 苦 kǔ means “bitter”), 苦荼 kǔtú or 荈 chuǎn .

The word 茗 míng comes from there later to indicate the, which is spread more and more through China. It is necessary to await the end of the 8th century so that the word 茶 chá ─ simple reduction of the character 荼 tú ─ is essential and comes from there to indicate either the bitter bubble scented with spices and aromatic herbs but the “noble” drink drunk natural which had become, slowly, the infusion in question. It is in 780 that 唐陸羽/唐陆羽 Táng Lùyǔ writes the 茶經/茶经 Chájīng , “Classique of the”. Its work explains which are the characteristics of the plant, harvests, the types of cultivated tea plants, gives councils of preparation and proves that at its time already the tasting of the had become an art, which did not cease improving.

Here what the 茶經/茶经 Chájīng (卷上, 一之源, first chapter teach us: “of the origins”):

其字: 或從草, 或從木, 或草木並.
qí zì: huò cóng cǎo, huò cóng mù, huò cǎo mù bìng.
“its character comes either from that for “grass” (茶 chá ), or of that for “tree” (梌 tú ), or of the meeting of both (荼 tú )”

Notes: these characters are attested in the 文字音義 Wénzì yīnyì (736) for 茶 chá , the 本草經 Běncǎojīng ( Canon of the remedies , between the first century BC and the 2nd century) for 梌 tú and the 爾雅 Ěryǎ ( Index of the correct directions , the oldest treaty of lexicography dating from Hàn, third century BC) for 荼 tú .

其名: 一曰茶, 二曰檟, 三曰蔎, 四曰茗, 五曰荈.
qí míng: yī yuē chá, er yuē jiǎ, sān yuē shè, sì yuē míng, wǔ yuē chuǎn.
“Its name: it is first of all named chá , then jiǎ , thirdly shè , fourthly míng , fifthly chuǎn . ”

Notes: 周公, the duke of Zhou (dynasty of Zhou Occidentaux,) known as that “檟” jiǎ indicates the 苦荼 kǔtú ; according to 揚雄 Yángxióng (-53 - 18, Hàn dynasty, author of the 太玄經 Canon of the great mystery ), “蔎” shè would be the name by which the inhabitants of Sìchuān of south-west indicated the tú ; finally, according to the 郭弘農 Guōhóngnóng , the first harvests of the would be named chá , following harvests míng (word perhaps borrowed from the Burmese ), shè or chuǎn .

Vocabulary of the

The Specifying S and names of measurement to be used with 茶 chá are:

Specifying general: 種/种 zhǒng .

e.g.: 這種茶很貴. /这种茶很贵. zhèi zhǒng chá hěn guì , “this type of the is worth expensive”

Noms of measurements:

杯 bēi for the cup: 請喝一杯茶吧. /请喝一杯茶吧. qǐng hē yì bēi chá Ba , “please, wood a cup of tea”;
口 kǒu for the mouthful: 她只喝了一口茶. tā zhǐ hē the yì kǒu chá , “it drank only one mouthful of the”.

“To prepare the” 沏茶 qīchá , or 泡茶 pàochá is said, “to wet the”. Lastly, it is 倒茶 dàochá which one uses “to pour the”. There exists even a technical verb, 窨 xūn , to mean “to scent the with flowers”.

Families of the

The Chinese distribute the in six categories, from which the names are drawn from the color of the Infusion and not of the sheet; this color reveals the rate of Fermentation sheets, that is to say, in the order ascending:

'黃茶' huáng chá (yellow The); finest and often rarest of the teas. Very delicate, they undergo a light fermentation with choked and their sheets are not worked. Only the duveteux buds are used;
'白茶' bái chá (white The); following the example yellow teas, in fact very delicate teas, them, do not undergo any fermentation. The first three sheets, whose bud, can be present, always whole. They are dried with the free air;
'綠茶/绿茶' lǜ chá (green The); these teas do not undergo any fermentation and are composed most of the time of buds or young sheets. This the is worked, the sheets undergoing various operations (reheating with 100°, for example);
'烏龍茶/乌龙茶' wūlóng chá (the “black dragon”, current orthography: The Oolong ; this the is usually indicated under the term 青茶 qīng chá “the blue-green”); the name of this type of the comes from the color of the sheet and not of infusion. They are “semi-fermented” teas known as because their fermentation varies from 12 to 65%. The sheets are often whole.
'紅茶/红茶' hóng chá (the red); they are fermented at 100%; the sheets used can be broken for the teas of less quality.
'黑茶' hēi chá (the black); they are entirely fermented teas having undergone a post-fermentation of several years, teas of guard. Very expensive, they are known most of the time Westerners only by the versions of which post-fermentation does not exceed a few days, marketed by the China. These “copies” are sold in supermarkets under names of 普洱 Pǔ' ěr or 磚茶/砖茶 zhuanchá .
'花茶' huāchá (with the flowers); it is not, strictly speaking, a type of the, because the decorated perfumes of flowers with which it was mixed (or, for the poor and commercial teas, covered with gasoline) can be various colors. The with [[jasmine], 茉莉花茶 mòli huāchá , in its most refined versions, can be made up of a scented white the, with very delicate savors. The black teas scented with the flowers are most widespread, generally also poorest when they are built on dust of sheets to which an unspecified gasoline was added. A good the scented owes the being by the contact with fresh flowers, and not thanks to a gasoline.

Conditioning

To the purchase, the is presented in several forms. The noblest part is the last bud, duveteux and silver plated which is used in the white the. For each a type of sheets is appropriate. The whole and not broken sheet produces a more delicate the, less tannic, like the wulong. Certain terms describe the presentation of the sheets:

the duveteux bud: 白毛 báimáo or 白毫 báiháo (in Cantonese baahk hòuh from where pekoe in English in the ranks of the Indian teas, like F.O.P, Orange Flowery Pekoe ); it is about the last sheet (the bud itself), covered most of the time with sleeping bag. In certain cases, the first three sheets, bud included/understood, are used. Another denomination: 芽兒/芽儿 yár ;
the sheet, 茶葉/茶叶 cháyè , can be worked (rolled up in the direction length, twisted, in spiral, whole or broken). All these invoices do not have necessarily a quite precise name;
the sheet rolled up in pearl: 珠種/珠种 zhūzhǒng ( cf the 珠茶 zhūchá , known in Occident under the name of Gunpowder ; this the, the principal Chinese export of the, is not intended to be consumed natural. It is mainly sold with the Maghrébins for their preparation of the to mint or the wormwood);
the compressed the: it is a conditioning which allows the conservation and the transport of teas ─ likely to only suffer from the constraints undergoes the sheet ─ worms of the difficult regions of access (like Tibet). They are black teas for the majority, or greens. In nest: 磚茶/砖茶 tuóchá or zhuānchá ─ 磚/砖 is read tuó and zhuān and means “brick” ─; out of wafer: 餅茶/饼茶 bìngchá (also known under the name 七子 qīzǐ , “seven parts” because the wafer the is often sold by batches of seven; in cube: 方茶 fāngchá ; in large brick: 米磚茶/米砖茶 mǐzhuānchá (米 mǐ means “rice” because the sheets of the are broken of pieces of the size of a grain of rice before being bound out of brick); in ball: 摶茶/抟茶 tuánchá …

Preparation

The Chinese the prepares in two manners, according to its color: for the teas fragile, yellow, white and green, the preparation in 盅 zhōng is reserved, with the more vigorous teas (of the wūlóng to the black the) that known as 工夫茶 gōngfū chá . Each one has its characteristics and both a common point: the is always rinsed quickly with the warm water, which must be pure (best remaining a slightly mineralized spring water or filtered water; the tap water, except rare exceptions, must be avoided, especially downtown), first once, in order to remove it from the impurities and to prepare its hydration.

Preparation in 盅 zhōng

Preparation 工夫茶 gōngfū chá

External bonds

Nicolas Stampf: a site very rich in information on the;
The Culture: the new version of the preceding site;
F.A.Q on the English the, translated into French;
Maison of the O DOR
the site of the House of the Three Teas gives information on the traditional preparations in zhōng and gōngfū chá as practiced by M^e Tseng;
Clouded Tea Information Net (in English) and its Chinese version;
site on the Japanese the.
the savor of Asia.
Vapors of On a Chinese Cup: An association of on Paris, organizing course, meetings, tasting…

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