recently, the fashion of afternoon tea can be said to be unique. Having lunch and dinner is not as eye-catching as having an afternoon tea in British style. The tea set must be exquisite in European style, preferably roses or wild strawberries from W family; Delicate fingers, portentously picked up the gold-painted teacup, and there was a three-layer afternoon tea tray on the table. The colors were colorful and the taste didn't matter. The key was to look good. Of course, it doesn't matter whether it's tea bag or fruit tea in the teacup. You know, what sisters drink is not tea, it's accent, it's leisure.

English afternoon tea originated in the 17th century, and it was the salon culture of ladies at the earliest, and then it gradually spread to the common people. I have tried this kind of afternoon tea several times, and the accent is there. However, after careful tasting, I lack a point and charm, and the choice of tea is monotonous, basically black tea or fruit tea. In fact, as the birthplace of tea, China people's tea culture has an earlier origin and is much more particular.

it's called tea, because the earliest tea was really used for eating. Before the Tang Dynasty, brew tea generally added sesame seeds, salt, melon seeds, peach kernels and other condiments. It was only from Lu Yu that it was proposed to cook tea without seasoning in order to taste the true fragrance of tea. Since then, tea and food have been separated, so there has been a special tea food. Tea-food culture has a long history, which was first recorded in Shi Shuo Xin Yu ˙ Xiao Di Pian: "When Taifu Jin and Chu first crossed the river, although he was known for his heavy name, he didn't know each other for the first time. Don't worry about more tea juice and less dumplings. " There are various forms of tea banquet, such as replacing wine with tea and drinking between flowers; There are also celebrations of the first harvest of new tea and tasting jiaming; There is also a tea banquet in which the Zen forest lectures or the court enjoys tribute tea. With the fragrance of tea, tea food is usually light pasta and fruit, but there are also many kinds. The Japanese "Chanlin Song" records the tea food in the Tang Dynasty: "Crystal steamed stuffed bun (made by Ge Fen), donkey intestine soup (like donkey intestine), water-refined red soup, turtle soup, delicious soup, inch gold soup, fish soup ...". Qian Qi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Tea Banquet with Zhao Ju" that "under the bamboo, I forgot to say anything about purple tea, and all the guests were drunk. It' s hard to wash the dust heart, and the shadow of a tree is oblique. " , it truly records the Qing Huan Ya Qu of the Tang Dynasty tea banquet. After the development of Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, tea food became a unique food culture, with thousands of kinds, and developed into local customs and delicacies in different regions, among which Yunnan's tea, Yibin and Guangdong's morning tea were the most famous.

Today, tea is still one of the seven essential things for China people to open their doors, but we are not as particular about tea as the ancients. On the one hand, everyone is busy, and there is no time to make those tea fruits. Secondly, after years of cultural catastrophe and national business, tea culture has revived in recent years, and tea food is the icing on the cake, and it has been gradually valued as the composition of tea seats. Some of the tea banquets combined with traditional culture are refreshing. I have seen a tea banquet with the theme of 24 solar terms. According to the 24 solar terms, different teas are matched, and each tea needs to be matched with different teas. What impressed me the most was the spring cakes with jasmine tea in beginning of spring, the summer eggs with Longjing in long summer, the beef lotus root soup with Dahongpao in beginning of autumn, and the tea dumplings with Pu 'er in beginning of winter. All collocation, in addition to considering the taste and color, also takes into account the yin and yang deficiency of the human body according to the seasonal changes, and naturally grows in time. Such a tea banquet is about tasting tea and food, rewarding tea sets and pondering China's philosophy.

Taoists who learn from nature pay attention to nourishing qi when drinking tea, and they are very particular about choosing tea and drinking tea. I have a Taoist friend who has developed the Six-pulse God Tea. It is said that choosing different teas according to the law of human qi pulse operation at different times can help the qi pulse to be balanced and smooth, and achieve the effect of keeping healthy and practicing qi. For example, drink green tea in the morning, pass the bladder meridian and get through the sun pulse; Drinking black tea at the end of the day helps the stomach to run and dredge the shaoyang pulse. Similarly, the matched tea food should also have the same or complementary functions. When drinking green tea, it can be matched with lotus seeds, coix seed cakes, osmanthus peach kernels, etc., which has the function of eliminating dampness and diuresis; It is a good choice to drink black tea with nuts such as melon seeds and walnuts; Yellow tea can be drunk in lunch, and black tea can be properly matched with sweet and sour preserves in the afternoon. But on the whole, Taoist tea drinking is not recommended to be accompanied by more tea, which will confuse the tea.

Indeed, there are many kinds of tea, red, green, blue, white, black and yellow, and tea food can also be divided into fresh fruit, nuts, flour fruit, flowers, meat and so on, which looks very complicated. How do we ordinary people drink tea with tea? There is a simple formula among the people: "Sweet with green, sour with red, melon seeds with oolong". The so-called sweet with green: that is, sweets with green tea, such as using all kinds of sweet cakes, pineapple cake and other green tea; Acid with red: that is, sour food with black tea to drink, such as fruit, lemon slices, candied fruit with black tea; Melon seeds with oolong: salty food with oolong tea, such as melon seeds, peanuts and olives with oolong tea. Of course, it is more convenient to remember some taboos, for example, jasmine tea should not be mixed with other tea foods that are too fragrant, such as nuts, fruits, flowers, etc., to avoid affecting its own fragrance; Don't eat too spicy or stimulating food when drinking tea, and try not to choose too greasy snacks. These words are taboo, but they are common sense and easy to remember and operate.

In the final analysis, tea is for freedom and leisure elegance. Apart from formal tea seats, what's wrong with drinking alone or with friends, as long as you like it, it looks beautiful, and it's good for your body and mind? It is said that Lu You's favorite tea is duck's feet, so it should have a special taste, right?