Chinese are the earliest people to drink tea in human history, and the "Shennong Food Classic" introduces the early diet of ancient Chinese people, and there is a record of "tea tea for a long time, which makes people powerful and pleasant", which shows that Chinese have begun to drink tea before three thousand BC.

From a modern point of view, the drinking or consumption of tea can be classified into our food culture, but in fact, tea was first eaten by our ancestors, not as a drink, but as a medicine.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, tea had an elegant title - "fragrant tea", from the name of tea, we can guess that as early as that era, perhaps tea has been classified from the category of traditional Chinese medicine as an independent drink.

But to be exact, what was called tea in ancient times is actually not the same thing as our modern tea.

At that time, tea may have been a combination of green leaves of a variety of plants similar to tea, and people ate and ate to achieve a medicinal purpose.

It was not until the Western Han Dynasty, judging from the description of tea at that time in the records of historical materials, that we can judge that the tea of this period, from the botanical point of view, has a close botanical intimacy with our tea today.

At that time, there were several historical figures that we are familiar with today, such as Sima Xiangru in "Fan Jiang" in "Xun Yi" talking about tea, and Wang Bao, the author of "Jiuhuai", in the "Wu Yang Buying Tea" story in Cifu "The Covenant", all vividly describe the prevalence of tea in the Western Han Dynasty.

It's just that the tea-drinking culture at that time seemed to have a complex feeling of nostalgia for the ancients.

Although tea has been used as the main ingredient for boiling a pot of tea, in terms of taste, due to the complex seasoning steps, and even the addition of salt, herbs and various spices, we will inevitably imagine that the tea at that time seemed to be more like a vegetable soup with a pot of rice.

Even so, tea at that time was not popular, because most of the tea production areas were in the southern Sichuan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang regions, so only in the south of China, among the literati and ink who belonged to a small number of people.

In the north of the Han Dynasty, this kind of complicated tea was only eaten by a very small number of powerful vassals, and ordinary people did not know about it, nor did they pay much attention to the existence of tea.

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, due to the excavation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the convenience of transportation, the culture of boiling tea gradually became popular among the literati.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was also a tea master who laid the tone of tea culture in later generations - Lu Yu, the "tea saint". He was proficient in tea and tea ceremony all his life, and wrote the first tea culture book in human history, "The Book of Tea".

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the way of eating tea gradually took the prototype of tea in the world in later generations.

People make tea, no longer mix those kinds of spices, no longer add salt, but simply taste and enjoy the original mellow taste of tea, and integrate the whole process into the thought, the pursuit of that kind of indifference and purity.

In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, this tea culture reached its peak, and a large number of tea varieties began to appear.

It is precisely because of the peak of the literary style during this period that the literati also began to regard cooking tea and drinking tea as a way to prove the elegance of Swen and style like qin, chess, calligraphy and painting.

In addition to showing off some poetry and songs, pen and ink calligraphy and painting, the literati also began to compete in tea ceremony and tea art, which is a way of cooking tea, which is called tea fighting.

……

The old man enjoyed Yang Huairen's Xiuren tea, and seemed to gradually open up the conversation.

He is a tea lover, but because his family is not so wealthy, he can only come to this teahouse near his home that can provide more authentic tea every once in a while, to enjoy a moment of tranquility.

Whether it is the owner of the teahouse, or the tea customers who often come to the second floor to pass some leisure time, most of them are acquaintances with him.

So the old man's hobbies, these people also know a little bit about it, the tea he ordered is just a pot of 20 wen a pot of ordinary goods, only occasionally like to make a small fortune, only to order a pot of good tea of hundreds of wen, in the window position, leisurely sit all day.

The two pots of tea that Yang Huairen ordered, when they were just served by the second brother, the old man actually smelled out that this was a pot of Xiuren tea just by smelling the fragrance wafting out of the spout.

Therefore, Yang Huairen should be a rich tea guest in the eyes of the old man, when Yang Huairen paid nearly half of the tea money of two taels of silver, and the remaining half was rewarded to the little second brother without a trace of hesitation, the old man knew that the person in front of him should be unusual.

The other party said that sitting at the same table was a kind of fate, and if he wanted to invite him to tea, out of courtesy, he should naturally be humble.

Yang Huairen brought the tea cup to his mouth and gently sipped the still hot tea, and at the same time, he also secretly aimed at the old man opposite.

After the old man brought the tea and invited it, he did not bring the tea cup directly to his mouth to drink like him, but slowly shook the delicate black porcelain tea cup in front of him a few times, closed his eyes, and greedily inhaled the aroma that came out of the tea cup through his nose.

It was as if a devout believer was holding a solemn religious ceremony, and the old man sniffed for a while before he gradually opened his eyes, as if the fragrance of the tea leaves caressed his cheeks, making him gradually show a hint of cheerfulness.

He blew lightly on the surface of the tea water a few times, blowing away a cloud of hot air, and purposefully blowing the tea leaves and foam floating on the surface of the tea water.

So far, he still did not rush to put the tea in his mouth, but greeted the bright light outside the window, his eyes widened and carefully observed the changing shape of the tea foam.

It wasn't until the shape seemed to satisfy him that he slowly brought the teacup to his lips, and his fingers twisted to make it turn, so that the tea flowed slowly and naturally into his mouth.

After drinking a cup of tea, the old man's face also showed a happy smile, carefully put down the tea cup in his hand, and thanked Yang Huairen again.

Yang Huairen also smiled indifferently, grabbed the teapot again, and poured a new cup for the old man and himself.

The old man showed a little flattery, and then put down the stranger's first meeting and talked about the history of tea.

Yang Huairen didn't have an in-depth understanding and research before, but he just listened to what the old man said very interestingly, echoed a few words from time to time, and did not hesitate to praise the old man's understanding of tea culture.

As the old man spoke, Xiao Er brought a few plates of tea fruits and dried fruit snacks that Yang Huairen wanted, as well as a pot of relatively cheap tea ordered by the old man.

The old man pretended to be a little angry, and scolded Xiao Er with a smile, "Your tea is authentic, and it is the craft of cooking tea, which is really ordinary and very ......."