Compressed tea

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A compressed brick of pu-erh tea. Individual leaves can be seen on the surface of the brick. Zhuan cha.jpg
A compressed brick of pu-erh tea. Individual leaves can be seen on the surface of the brick.

Although the Chinese regard it as an inferior product, [tea bricks are] greatly esteemed by the Tibetans for [their] powerful flavor, which harmonizes particularly well with that of the rancid yak's butter which they mix with their tea. Brick tea comprises not only what we call tea leaves, but also the coarser leaves and some of the twigs of the shrub, as well as the leaves and fruit of other plants and trees (the alder, for instance). This amalgam is steamed, weighed, and compressed into hard bricks, which are packed up in coarse matting in subunits of four. These rectangular parcels weigh between twenty-two and twenty-six pounds—the quality of the tea makes a slight difference to the weight—and are carried to Kangting by coolies. [2]

The brick tea is packaged [in Kangting] either in the courtyard or in the street outside, and it is quite a complicated process. When the coolies bring it in from Ya'an, it has to be repacked before being consigned upcountry, for in a coolie's load the standard subunit is four bricks lashed together, and these would be the wrong shape for animal transport. So they are first cut in two, then put together in lots of three, leaving what they call a gam, which is half a yak's load. Tea which is going to be consumed reasonably soon is done up in a loose case of matting, but the gams, which are bound for remote destinations, perhaps even for Lhasa, are sewn up in yakhides. [3]

André Migot, Tibetan Marches

Consumption

A brick of Hubei mi zhuan cha (Mi Zhuan Cha 
), made of powdered black tea BlackTeaBrick.jpg
A brick of Hubei mǐ zhūan chá (米磚茶), made of powdered black tea

Due to their density and toughness tea bricks were consumed after they were broken into small pieces and boiled. Traditionally, in the Tang Dynasty, they were consumed being ground to a fine powder. The legacy of using tea bricks in powdered form can be seen in modern Japanese matcha tea powders as well as the pulverized tea leaves used in the lei cha (擂茶) eaten by the Hakka people and some people in Hunan province.

Beverage

In ancient China the use of tea bricks involved three separate steps:

  1. Toasting: A piece was broken from the tea brick and usually first toasted over a fire. This was probably done to sanitize the tea brick and destroy any mold or insect infestation that may have occurred when the bricks were stored uncovered in warehouses and storerooms or in covered jars underground. Toasting also imparted a pleasant flavor to the resulting beverage.
  2. Grinding: The toasted tea brick was broken up and ground to a fine powder.
  3. Whisking: The powdered tea was mixed into hot water and frothed with a whisk before serving. The color and patterns formed by the powdered tea were enjoyed while the mixture was being drunk.

In modern times bricks of pu-erh type teas are flaked, chipped, or broken and directly steeped after thorough rinsing; the process of toasting, grinding, and whisking to make tea from tea bricks has become uncommon.

Tteokcha (떡차;lit. 'cake tea'), also called byeongcha (병차;餠茶;lit. 'cake tea'), was the most commonly produced and consumed type of tea in pre-modern Korea. [4] [5] [6] Pressed tea made into the shape of yeopjeon , the coins with holes, was called doncha (돈차;lit. 'money tea'), jeoncha (전차;錢茶;lit. 'money tea'), or cheongtaejeon (청태전;靑苔錢;lit. 'green moss coin'). [7] [8] [9] Borim-cha (보림차;寶林茶) or Borim-baengmo-cha (보림백모차;寶林白茅茶), named after its birthplace, the Borim temple in Jangheung, South Jeolla Province, is a popular tteokcha variety. [10]

Food

Tea bricks are used as a form of food in parts of Central Asia and Tibet in the past as much as in modern times. In Tibet pieces of tea are broken from tea bricks, and boiled overnight in water, sometimes with salt. The resulting concentrated tea infusion is then mixed with butter, cream or milk and a little salt to make butter tea, a staple of Tibetan cuisine. [1]

The tea mixed with tsampa is called Pah. Individual portions of the mixture are kneaded in a small bowl, formed into balls and eaten. Some cities of the Fukui prefecture in Japan have food similar to tsampa, where concentrated tea is mixed with grain flour. However, the tea may or may not be made of tea bricks.

In parts of Mongolia and central Asia, a mixture of ground tea bricks, grain flours and boiling water is eaten directly. It has been suggested[ by whom? ] that tea eaten whole provides needed roughage normally lacking in the diet.

Use as currency

A brick of tea presented to Tsar Nicholas II, 1891 Russiantea1.jpg
A brick of tea presented to Tsar Nicholas II, 1891

Due to the high value of tea in many parts of Asia, tea bricks were used as a form of currency throughout China, Tibet, Mongolia, and Central Asia. This is quite similar to the use of salt bricks as currency in parts of Africa. Tea bricks were in fact the preferred form of currency over metallic coins for the nomads of Mongolia and Siberia. The tea could not only be used as money and eaten as food in times of hunger but also brewed as allegedly beneficial medicine for treating coughs and colds. Until World War II, tea bricks were still used as a form of edible currency in Siberia. [1]

Tea bricks for Tibet were mainly produced in the area of Ya'an (formerly Yachou-fu) in Sichuan province. The bricks were produced in five different qualities and valued accordingly. The kind of brick which was most commonly used as currency in the late 19th and early 20th century was that of the third quality which the Tibetans called brgyad pa ('eighth'), because at one time it was worth eight Tibetan tangkas (standard silver coin of Tibet which weighs about 5.4 grams) in Lhasa. Bricks of this standard were also exported by Tibet to Bhutan and Ladakh. [11]

Health effects

All tea plant tissues accumulate fluorine to some extent. Tea bricks that are made from old tea leaves and stems can accumulate large amounts of this element, which can make them unsafe for consumption in large quantities or over prolonged periods. Use of such teas has led to fluorosis, a form of fluoride poisoning that affects the bones and teeth, in areas of high brick tea consumption such as Tibet. [12]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Bressett, Ken (August 2001). "Tea Money of China".
  2. Migot, André (1955). Tibetan Marches. Translated by Peter Fleming. E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., U.S.A., pp. 59-60.
  3. Migot, André (1955). Tibetan Marches. Translated by Peter Fleming. E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., U.S.A., pp. 83-84.
  4. Cheong, Kyoung; Cho, Hee-sun (2006). "The Customs of Ddeok-cha(lump tea) and Characteristics by Degrees of Fermentation". Journal of Korean Tea Society. 12 (3): 71. Archived from the original on 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  5. Jung, Seo-Kyeong (2015). "Historycity about Coastal inflow of tteok-tea to Jeon-nam". Journal of North-East Asian Cultures (in Korean). 1 (42): 105–126. doi: 10.17949/jneac.1.42.201503.006 .
  6. "Taste the slow life with these Korean food specialties". Korea JungAng Daily . 24 October 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  7. "doncha" 돈차. Standard Korean Language Dictionary . National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  8. "jeoncha" 전차. Standard Korean Language Dictionary . National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  9. "Don Tea". Slow Food Foundation . Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  10. "Borim Backmocha". Slow Food Foundation . Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  11. Wolfgang Bertsch, 2006 The Use of Tea Bricks as Currency among the Tibetans (- Der Gebrauch von Teeziegeln als Zahlungsmittel bei den Tibetern" Der Primitivgeldsammler), Europäische Vereinigung zum Erforschen, Sammeln und Bewahren von ursprünglichen und außergewöhnlichen Geldformen (European Association for the Research, Collection and Preservation of Original and Curious Money), No. 75
  12. Cao, Jin; Zhao, Yan; Liu, Jianwei; Xirao, Ruoden; Danzeng, Sangbu; Daji, Dawei; Yan, Yu (2003). "Brick tea fluoride as a main source of adult fluorosis". Food and Chemical Toxicology. 41 (4): 535–42. doi:10.1016/S0278-6915(02)00285-5. PMID   12615125.

Sources

  • Bertsch, Wolfgang (2006) The Use of Tea Bricks as Currency among the Tibetans ("Der Gebrauch von Teeziegeln als Zahlungsmittel bei den Tibetern"), Der Primitivgeldsammler. Europäische Vereinigung zum Erforschen, Sammeln und Bewahren von ursprünglichen und außergewöhnlichen Geldformen (European Association for the Research, Collection and Preservation of Original and Curious Money), No. 75, Rüsselsheim. This article was also published in the Tibet Journal and is available website [ dead link ]
  • Cao, J.; Zhao, Y.; Liu, J.W. (1998). "Safety evaluation and fluorine concentration of pu'er brick tea and bianxiao brick tea". Food and Chemical Toxicology. 36 (12): 1061–3. doi:10.1016/S0278-6915(98)00087-8. PMID   9862647.
  • Cao, J.; Zhao, Y.; Liu, J. (1997). "Brick tea consumption as the cause of dental fluorosis among children from Mongol, Kazak and Yugu populations in China". Food and Chemical Toxicology. 35 (8): 827–33. doi:10.1016/S0278-6915(97)00049-5. PMID   9350228.
  • Yishi, Chen; Fanzhou, Chen (1990). "A Survey of Export of Yunnan Tea for Tibet". Tibet Studies. Journal of the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences. 2 (1): 154–67.
  • National Palace Museum Exhibition Brochure "Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: the Culture, Practice and Art of Tea" Taiwan 2002
  • Jordan, Reinhold (1975). "Ein Beitrag zum Teeziegelgeld". Die Münze. 6 (1–12): 248–50.
  • Rosthorn, Arthur de (1895): On the Tea Cultivation in Western Ssuch´uan and the Trade with Tibet via Tachienlu. Luzac & Co., London, 1895.
  • Sigler, O. Phares (January 1950). "Brick Tea Money". Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine. 16 (1): 81–4.
  • Wang, Ling (2003). Chinese tea culture. Pelanduk. ISBN   967-978-778-8.
Compressed tea
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 緊壓茶
Simplified Chinese 紧压茶
Literal meaningtight press tea
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin jǐnyāchá
Wade–Giles chin3-ya1-ch'a2