In one of the letters I
received from China the girl, Danlei, told me about the ancient city of Dali,
located in northwestern Yunnan, where she grew up. She told me that if I were
ever to visit that I needed to try the three courses of tea by the Bai
nationality (Huang.) I thought this was interesting, I’ve heard of multiple
courses of meals, but never thought about having multiple course of a drink.
She described each course and what really stood out to me is that one of the
courses had cheese in it. I couldn’t imagine having a type of tea with cheese
in it, so I had to look into these teas.
The courses are the "bitter, sweet and aftertaste". The first course is the Bitter Tea. This tea is made from baking a local green tea in a pottery jar till they have a “scorched” smell and they turn yellow, then the boiling water s added to make the tea. You get half a cup, it is described as bitter and strong, but still refreshing. The second, the Sweet Tea, is made by diluting the bitter tea with more boiling water, and adding brown sugar, cinnamon, and Ru Shan, which is the cheese like food. It is just a daily product made from goat cheese. This course is “chewed” and is sweet and nourishing. The last is the Aftertaste. Honey, ginger, Chinese pepper, and semen juglandis, which are type of walnut kernel, are added to this tea. Danlei described how in all three courses you taste the five flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. The Bai people think of it as your life- bitter, sweet and full of aftertaste (Three-course Tea Of Bai, Three-Course Tea of Bai Ethnic Minority.)
Secondary Sources
"Three-course Tea Of Bai." -Yunnan Tourism Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.
"Three-Course Tea of Bai Ethnic Minority,China Guide,Great Wall Travel." Three-Course Tea of Bai Ethnic Minority,China Guide,Great Wall Travel. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.
Primary Source
Huang, Daniela. "Good days in Dali." Letter to Mary Books. 21 Oct. 2014. MS. Qingdao, China.