Three-Course Tea of Bai Ethnic Minority


The Bai People value friendship and are hospitable. Guests are often treated with tea when they come
to Dali. Local people stress tea quality, tea-making technique and hospitable etiquette, gradually forming
"Three-Course Tea".

The Three-Course Tea of the Bai ethnic minority is a dramatic tea ceremony. This ceremony was
originally held by the senior members of a family to express best wishes to juniors when they were
going to pursue studies, learn a skill, start a business or get married. Now, to drink Three-Course Tea
has become a conventional ceremony when people of the Bai ethnic minority greet guests.   

In Three-Course Tea, the brewing techniques and materials used in each course are different from each other.

The first course of tea is called bitter tea, meaning that one will suffer a lot before she/he starts his or her career. For the first course of tea, the tea
needs to be put into a small pottery jar first and roasted on fire until the tealeaves become yellow and give off a charred smell.

The second course of tea is called sweet tea. After serving the first course, the host will empty the pot and repeat the procedure right from the
beginning. This time, the host will add brown sugar, a special fan-shaped dairy product, and Chinese cinnamon into the handless cup, and then
pour the tea into the cup with an amount of 8/10 cup. 

The third course of tea is called aftertaste tea. The brewing procedure is the same as the previous ones, but
materials added in the handless cup change to honey, popcorn, Bunge prickly ash, and walnut kernel with a
water amount of 6/10 or 7/10 cup. When drinking this course of tea, one should shake the cup to mix up all
those materials and then drink the tea up while it is hot. One will find flavor of sweet, sour, bitter, and pungent
in the tea which reminds the taster of bitter comes first, sweet comes second. 

The Three-course Tea of the Bai ethnic minority became a ceremony for treating guests or friends of the
people of Bai in as early as the Ming Dynasty, delivering people the profound connotation of treating life and
career with an ordinary and placid mindset.