In the process of making tea on a daily basis, careful tea drinkers may notice that circles of white foam like snow often float on the tea soup. Many tea lovers mistakenly think that this is an impurity or harmful component in the tea and choose to skim it off. However, this layer of foam actually has a lot of origins, and the protagonist behind it is a miraculous substance called "tea saponin".
Tea saponin: the source of tea bubbles
Tea saponins, also known as tea saponins, are members of the glycoside compound family and are natural surfactants with excellent performance. It is like the soap horn used by the ancients when washing and shampooing, and it can produce a rich lather by gently rubbing it in water. In China's long history of tea drinking, the existence of tea foam has a long history, from Du Yu's "Xun Fu" in the Wei and Jin dynasties to Lu Tong's "Walking Pen Xie Meng's Advice to Send New Tea" in the Tang Dynasty, and then to Lu You's "Lin'an Spring Rain and Early Ji", the ancients have depicted the beauty of tea foam with poetic words, and regarded it as a reference standard for evaluating the quality of tea.
Is the tea foam the "essence of tea"?
Through observation, it is not difficult to find that green tea, yellow tea and other tea leaves that have not been deeply rolled and fermented have relatively little tea foam and a relatively light taste; Tea leaves with a deeper degree of fermentation and rolling (such as Wuyi rock tea, white tea, Pu'er tea, etc.) not only have a more mellow taste, but also have a relatively more tea foam. It can be seen that tea foam is an important part of the rich substance and natural flavor of tea.
Although the purified tea saponin has a bitter and spicy taste, the purity and amount of tea saponin precipitated in the tea soup are far from reaching the level of artificial purification, so it will not affect the overall taste of the tea soup. What's more worth mentioning is that tea saponin is non-toxic and has a variety of health effects, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-osmotic, inhibiting ethanol absorption and anti-hypertension benefits.
The relationship between brewing techniques and tea foam
Differences in brewing methods can also lead to variations in the amount of tea foam. The boiling water is agitated at high intensity, and the tea foam naturally increases; Slow-flowing low injection or using the top-pitch method to brew tea will make the tea soup appear clearer and purer. To put it simply, the more intense the brewing action, the more tea foam, and the tea and tea leaves may also become a part of the tea foam, which can add to the sweetness and fragrance of the tea soup, and has no negative impact on the quality of the tea soup.
Conclusion: Tea foam is not a cause for concern
To sum up, when tea lovers taste tea soup, they do not need to regard tea foam as a sign of poor tea quality, nor do they need to worry about its harm to the human body. In fact, drinking it according to your personal preference is the essence of the way of tasting. Tea foam, this tea soup partner that can be left behind, you might as well treat it as you like and enjoy the comfortable time with the fragrance of tea!