The origin of matcha and the originator of latte art actually dates back to the Song Dynasty?

I believe many people have seen the tea-drinking contest between the immortals in Meng Hua Lu, and Rong Ge has also watched it. It really shows the ancient Chinese tea culture, especially the tea-drinking opera that reached its peak in the Song Dynasty, vividly.

The comments from netizens were even more brilliant, such as "Did coffee latte art exist in the Song Dynasty?" "Is this making milk cap?" "Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand tea art", etc. So what can we dig up from a scientific perspective?

The history of Chinese people drinking tea can be traced back to the Shennong period more than 4,700 years ago. China is not only the hometown of tea, but also the origin of tea culture. Today, more than 100 countries in the world have the habit of drinking tea, and various tea cultures have also been derived.

The tea-making method performed by Tianxian in the play is a popular way of drinking tea in the Song Dynasty. First, the tea leaves are ground into tea powder with a grinder, hot water is poured on the fine tea powder to make it into a paste, and then more hot water is slowly added while continuously beating with a tea whisk until a layer of fine and dense white bubbles appears. The slower the bubbles dissipate, the more skilled the practitioner is.

Why is it called "dian cha"? Because the action of adding hot water to tea is called "dian". The skill of dian cha depends on the technique. A cup of tea needs to be stirred about 200 times. It must be done not only quickly but also evenly to produce bubbles that are not easy to dissipate.

From a scientific point of view, we can understand tea powder as tiny solid particles that are insoluble in water. When these small particles are stirred and evenly suspended in water, it is called a suspension, such as the batter formed by adding flour and water. If the suspension is left to stand for a long time, it will be separated into layers. The foam floating on the surface is made by quickly stirring the liquid to evenly mix air bubbles into the liquid to increase its stability. This is similar to the principle of modern mixers and egg beaters, but there were no special machines in ancient times. It is indeed a technical job to rely entirely on hand speed to beat, which requires not only speed but also stability. As for the reason why the bubbles do not dissipate immediately and can last for a period of time, it is because of the surface tension of the liquid.

After making tea, the next step is to pour the tea in the teacup into the tea tray. After that, you can use a small tool dipped in water to paint on the surface of the tea. This is the most exciting part, called Tea Hundred Arts, also known as Water Painting. Today, this skill has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Fujian Province.

Painting on the foam on the surface of tea soup reminds everyone of coffee latte art, but the biggest difference between coffee latte art and tea art is that latte art actually uses two different solutions, one is coffee and the other is milk, while tea art only uses one solution - water. Therefore, painting with tea water can last for a shorter time, the patterns dissipate faster, and it is more precious and rare.

Today, everyone thinks that matcha, which is popular all over the world, comes from Japan, but its true origin can be traced back to the tea-making method in the Song Dynasty, which was to grind tea into powder before drinking. If tea in the Song Dynasty was considered a drink, then before that, tea was more of a food.

For example, a popular way of drinking tea in the Tang Dynasty was to roast the tea cakes on fire, crush them, and then put them into water to cook into porridge. When cooking, many condiments were added, such as onions, ginger, garlic, jujubes, tangerine peel, mint, etc. This is why the ancients called "drinking tea" "eating tea", because they were really eating.

Tea culture began to flourish in the Tang Dynasty and reached its peak in the Song Dynasty. Tea culture reached its peak in the context of the time. The way we use hot water to make tea today became popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although the method is simple, it can restore the original taste of the tea.

As for whether drinking Kung Fu tea can better bring out the nutritional value of tea, I really don't have much research, but sometimes the sense of ritual also has a practical effect. At least after going through the process, your heart will be calm, right? This cannot be achieved by relying solely on the nutrients in the tea.