Today, people have a variety of convenient tools for heating water such as induction cookers, ceramic stoves, and electric kettles. Simply fill them with water, press a button, and within minutes you have boiling water ready for brewing Tea.

However, in ancient times, there was no electricity or gas. The only means of heating were wood and charcoal. But if you think that tea-loving commoners simply used a crude stove and some firewood, you would be greatly mistaken! There were many intricacies to how ancient people brewed their tea.

Let's explore what ancient people used to heat their water. This article is full of interesting facts, so I recommend saving it for future reference!

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The Tea Sage Lu Yu once said: “As for the fire, use charcoal, secondarily use strong firewood. Charcoal that has been used for roasting and has been tainted by the scent of mutton and fat, as well as rotten wood and damaged vessels, should not be used. Ancient people spoke of the taste of laborious firewood, and this is indeed true.”

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This means that the best option for heating water is charcoal, followed by strong firewood. If the charcoal has been used to roast meat, it will carry a gamey smell. Similarly, woods rich in oil are unsuitable because they impart a flavor described as “taste of laborious firewood.”

So, do you think clean charcoal is enough?

Wait, let's continue:

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Furthermore, “Charcoal made from hard wood is superior, but since its original properties haven't fully dissipated, there might still be residual smoke. If the smoke gets into the water, the water becomes unusable. Therefore, the charcoal should first be burned until red-hot, eliminating any smoke and flames, and ensuring that it burns fiercely and evenly, making the water boil more easily.”

This means that the charcoal must produce minimal smoke; otherwise, it can create thick black smoke like a beacon, leading one to believe that barbarians are invading. So, the charcoal should be burned outside until it turns bright red without emitting smoke before being used for heating water on the stove.

To solve the problem of smoke from charcoal, ancient people developed olive charcoal, lychee charcoal, and longan charcoal. These charcoals were not made from the branches of these fruit trees but from the pits of olives, lychees, and longans.

Currently, lychee and longan charcoal have disappeared due to cost, and the techniques have been lost. Only olive charcoal remains, preserved in the Chaozhou Gongfu Tea culture. Here's an introduction to olive charcoal:

Olive charcoal is made from the pits of black olives after removing the flesh and kernels. It is burned in a kiln until all the smoke is gone, then crushed into shiny black pieces resembling coal dust. Once lit, it emits a faint “charcoal aroma” in the room. When used for heating water, the flame is lively and blue, burning evenly neither too fast nor too slow. This type of pit charcoal is the most precious and rare. Others, such as pine charcoal, mixed charcoal, wood charcoal, and coal, are not suitable for Gongfu tea stoves. When olive charcoal is burned, it emits a pleasant fragrance. The sand kettle can filter out part of the olive aroma, infusing the water with a subtle fragrance.

Olive charcoal of high quality is known as black olive charcoal, which is expensive but has the advantage of producing no smoke and lasting a long time. Imagine, on a snowy evening, an ancient person warming their hands over a small red clay stove while brewing tea – quite atmospheric indeed.

After much effort, we've finally settled on water and charcoal. Now, what did ancient people use to heat water?

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Iron pot: Made of cast iron… In Hongzhou, porcelain was used, and in Laizhou, stone was used. Porcelain and stone are elegant materials, but they are not durable and difficult to maintain. Using Silver is very clean, but extravagant. Elegant it may be, and clean it may be, but if used regularly, it ultimately reverts to iron.

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Tang Dynasty

In the Tang Dynasty, the prevalent method was cooking tea, so the water-heating utensils were the same as the tea-cooking utensils.

According to Lu Yu, people generally used iron pots to heat water. However, Hongzhou and Laizhou had unique practices, using porcelain and stone pots respectively, which were elegant but fragile. Wealthier tea enthusiasts used silver pots, which were clean and elegant but extravagant and prone to tarnishing over time, eventually resembling iron.

Song Dynasty

In the Song Dynasty, people used specially made porcelain bottles for tea preparation, which could withstand high temperatures and be placed directly over charcoal. However, the refined officials and emperors of the Song Dynasty didn't stop there, using gold utensils instead. Emperor Huizong said, “Bottles should be made of gold or silver.” Chancellor Cai Xiang stated, “Small bottles are better for monitoring the temperature of the water and for accurately pouring tea. Gold is best, but silver, iron, or porcelain can also be used.”

Ming Dynasty

During the Ming Dynasty, tea preparation underwent significant changes. Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, concerned about the burden on the people, abolished the practice of compressed tea cakes (dragon and phoenix cakes) and introduced loose leaf tea, shifting from the point-tea method to the current brewing method.

As a result, bottles were no longer used, and water-heating utensils became tea kettles, similar in shape to jars used for boiling herbs.

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