Anhua Ground Tea

Anhua Ground Tea

　　Originating in the Han Dynasty and flourishing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this traditional ground tea has been passed down in the Anhua region of central-northern Hunan to this day. Its color, flavor, efficacy, preparation method, and drinking customs all allow visitors to experience the rustic and rich ground tea culture of these mountain villages. In the blooming month of April, a reporter followed the “Around Dongting Lake” reporting team into this fragrant ground tea land.

　　 　　Anhua County is located more than 200 kilometers from the provincial capital, Changsha, and is a county-level city inhabited by 26 ethnic groups including Han, Tujia, Miao, and Mongolian. The uniquely flavored ground tea is a well-known local specialty of the Anhua mountainous area and can be considered a regional marvel. In 1985, Japanese friends specially came here to study the origin of the tea variety and its production techniques, and later brought them back to Japan where they were widely spread.

　　 　　“The ingredients used in making ground tea are very particular. When rural families make it, they use their own high-quality tea leaves and mix them in certain proportions with grains such as rice, beans, peanuts, and sesame, along with herbs like licorice, chrysanthemum, and mugwort. These are placed in an earthenware mortar (also called a grinding bowl), and a round-headed wooden pestle (also called a grinding stick), made from tea branches, is used to finely grind them with a little water into a mud-like consistency, which is then poured into a tea bowl for later use.” At the home of local ground tea master Yu, the reporter witnessed this simplest yet most authentic process of making ground tea.

　　 　　“This is the most ‘genuine’ pollution-free green drink.” Soon after, Master Yu brewed a steaming bowl of fragrant homemade ground tea for everyone and told us that the ingredients are all from his own farm produce, and the whole process is done entirely by hand to ensure the original flavor. After one bowl, you feel a sweet and smooth taste lingering in your mouth, with endless aftertaste, and the fatigue from traveling also vanishes.

　　 　　In Anhua, most rural households make and drink ground tea, which is related to traditional Chinese medical treatments. Among the people, ground tea is known as “medicinal tea.” Moreover, the Anhua area is located in remote mountainous regions and was once a poor place where people couldn’t afford medical care. So they picked herbs that treated specific ailments to make into ground tea—quenching thirst, curing illness, and costing nothing. That’s why even now, people still use it to prevent and treat diseases. Many elderly people, having drunk this tea since childhood, rarely get sick even in their eighties or nineties. The higher longevity rate among the rural elderly in Anhua compared to other areas is undoubtedly related to long-term consumption of ground tea.

　　 　　There are many varieties of Anhua ground tea. By region, there are nearly ten types such as Meicheng Ground Tea, Dafu Ground Tea, and Houxian Ground Tea; by season, each season and even each month offers different varieties; by function, there are those that quench thirst, reduce inflammation, prevent heatstroke, resist cold, relieve hunger, or satisfy cravings... With the progress of the times, there are also various packaged ground teas and chilled ice ground teas.

　　 　　In recent years, Anhua ground tea has gradually stepped out of rural homes and moved toward market-oriented development. Not only are ground tea snacks and stalls found all over urban and rural areas, but some tourist attractions have even developed ground tea as a sightseeing and entertainment item, attracting many overseas visitors from Singapore, Japan, and elsewhere. Most notably, emerging ground tea workshops have integrated traditional techniques with modern production methods, allowing more people to taste this purely natural green beverage.

　　 　　Anhua ground tea from Hunan wafts its fragrance across the world. It is a colorful cloud, a fragrant flower, a multi-flavored fruit, an intoxicating wine... and even more so, it is a leisurely poem.

　　 　　Ground tea is generally made from ingredients such as rice, peanuts, sesame, mung beans, salt, tea leaves, litsea cubeba, and ginger. These are mashed into a paste in a mortar, mixed with hot water, and then combined with fried rice to create a fragrant and delicious drink.

　　 　　The process of making ground tea is also like a leisurely poem. Clean the mortar and pestle, roast the main ingredients and cereals, prepare the tea leaves and seasonings; then while boiling water, clamp the mortar between your legs, put in the items to be ground, and start pounding with the pestle. At the same time, prepare side snacks for the ground tea such as fried peanuts, sweet potato slices, and pickled radishes. Once everything is ground, pour in freshly boiled water, stir vigorously a few times, and the fragrant ground tea is ready.

　　 　　There are many varieties of Anhua ground tea—it's impossible to count them all. By region, there are nearly ten types such as Meicheng Ground Tea, Dafu Ground Tea, and Houxian Ground Tea; by season, each season and even each month offers different varieties; by function, there are those that quench thirst, reduce inflammation, prevent heatstroke, resist cold, relieve hunger, or satisfy cravings, and so on; by main and supplementary ingredients, the varieties are even more diverse... With the progress of the times, there are also various packaged ground teas and chilled ice ground teas.