About Tea
‘The Seven Cups of Tea’ -Lu Tong (798-835)
The first cup refreshes your lips and throat,
The second elates you from your lonely mood,
The third searches in your arid intestines* and you realize that you have only 5,000 volumes of literature in your memory,
fourth makes you perspire lightly, and evaporate through your skin the pent-up grievances in your life,
The fifth causes you to feel your muscles are relaxing, and bones losing weight,
The sixth leads you to go on the path to meet fairies,
Oh! The seventh cup! Better not take it! If you had it, the only feeling is an air current passing under your armpits
* ’searches in your arid intestines’ equates to ‘makes you rack your brains’
‘Seven Cups’ is named after a very famous ancient poem about tea. Poetry, history and legend all have an important role to play in Chinese tea culture, and the Seven Cups poem is one of the traditional verses that is still recited today. It was written by Lu Tong (798-835AD) during the years of the Tang dynasty, and the theory of seven cups of tea still bears Lu Tong’s name. It was written as a response to his friend Mong, a Tang court adviser, who had sent him a parcel of tea.
We developed this About Tea section to share our obsession with tea and tea culture with you. There is much to learn so check in often as we add new information. As the Chinese say “You can study tea all of your life and still not learn the names of all the different kinds.”
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