First of all, Cha Sheng Lu Yu didn't mention the problem of washing tea in the Book of Tea.
Secondly, the ancients did not wash tea in most cases. Yuan Mei, a gourmet in Qing Dynasty, described the scene of drinking tea as: "In the afternoon and autumn, I went to Man Ting Peak and Tianyou Temple. Monks and Taoists try to provide tea. The cup is as small as a walnut and the pot as small as a citron. Every time I pour it, there is not one or two. You can't bear to swallow your mouth, smell it first, then taste it, chew slowly and be considerate. Sure enough, the smell is fragrant and the mouth is fragrant. After drinking a cup, try one or two cups, which makes people feel calm and happy. " Yuan Mei didn't wash tea, but drank three cups in a row, which was wonderful and wanting more.
Now, take the West Lake Longjing, Biluochun, Mao Feng and Lu 'an Guapian as examples. These new teas are all collected from tender buds. After picking fresh leaves from tea trees, they were primarily processed and refined. Doing green, kettle frying, rolling, baking, screening and other processes can not only obtain the tea grade, but also meet the hygiene standards. First of all, there are many effective components in making tea, such as tea polyphenols, amino acids and ether extracts, which are not only beneficial to human health, but also show the delicious taste of tea. According to relevant experiments, the aroma of tea and the components beneficial to human body began to leach 3 seconds after the first soaking. If the tea is poured out for more than 3 seconds, the effective components in the tea will be greatly lost.
Even when making pressed teas such as Pu 'er tea and Jingwei Fu tea, the first soaking water will be poured out, which is "waking up" rather than "washing". Hot water stretches tea leaves, promotes the dissolution of substances such as aroma, theanine and tea polyphenols, and makes tea fragrant.