“Four cups bring slight perspiration; all the troubles of life depart through one's pores” — from Lu Tong's “Poem of the Seven Bowls of Tea.” When we savor a bowl of rich and smooth tea, we can feel a strong and sweet freshness in our mouth. The tea flows into our body, a warm current surging and rising within us, our pores dilating, our body heating up noticeably, and our back starting to sweat slightly…
Many tea novices experience heat and sweating when Drinking Tea, as if they are doing an intense, sweaty “workout.” Those who like this feeling enjoy a sense of exhilaration, while those who don't may worry about whether their body is uncomfortable or if there's something wrong with the tea?
In fact, moderate heat and sweating caused by drinking tea is a normal phenomenon. Drinking tea involves both taste and bodily sensations. Taste refers to experiencing the layers of freshness, sweetness, bitterness, astringency, warmth, and smoothness in the tea. Bodily sensations include salivation, aftertaste, sweating, and belching.
When drinking tea, if the tea has high thermal energy and contains sufficient substances, it will cause a certain degree of sweating. For example, Pu'er tea contains higher amounts of carbohydrates such as starch, Pectin, cellulose, etc., and a larger intake of these can cause similar heat and sweating to eating. Additionally, the stimulation of polyphenols in Pu'er tea can also cause strong contraction in muscles and the nervous system.
This contraction can make the body excited and generate a large amount of heat. When this heat exceeds the body's normal temperature, it is released through the skin, causing heat, and excess water is expelled through the skin in the form of sweat to maintain the body's temperature balance.
Some people refer to the energy released by tea as tea qi and believe that the reason for sweating is related to tea qi, suggesting that good tea has ample qi and can make a person sweat. In reality, such a statement lacks rationality and is rather one-sided.
Tea with ample qi can indeed indicate that a particular quality characteristic of the tea is excellent and that it contains abundant substances. However, due to individual differences in constitution, different people will have varying reactions to tea with strong qi. Some people, after drinking hot tea, experience an increase in body temperature and naturally sweat, while others have weaker sweating abilities and vary in the amount of sweat produced. Sometimes just a few cups of tea can make someone sweat profusely, while others might only experience mild sweating after drinking an entire pot of tea.
Sweating while drinking tea is related to multiple factors, including the temperature of the tea, the surrounding environmental temperature, the body's responsiveness, and the strength of the tea. Drinking tea can help refresh and calm the mind, improving appetite. Sweating a little while drinking tea is a normal metabolic response of the body. Tea with ample qi can warm the body and improve health when drunk in winter, and in summer, it can relax the muscles and uplift the mood, making one feel happy.