We know that in ancient times, only the royal family could be described as dragons and phoenixes. Song Dynasty tribute tea, a kind of "dragon and phoenix cake", is the most famous royal tribute tea in Song Dynasty. The tea that can enter the tribute tea spectrum is naturally good tea, but I am afraid that only Longfeng tea can win the praise from the official to the literati class. In the Tang Dynasty, tribute tea was mostly made into cakes. When Beiyuan Guanhong Gongcha was first established, it specially made a dragon and phoenix mold, and the pattern used was the iconic dragon and phoenix.
Su Dongpo's poems have a lot to do with the tea he drinks. For example, he wrote in "The day before the banquet of Xinglong Festival, Xiaoxue and Ziyou traveled to Wang Dingguo together": "The purple bowl is covered with millet and dragon tea." As the elite of the ruling class, Su Dongpo undoubtedly has Beiyuan tea in his tea. The "Panlong Tea" mentioned in his poems, the tribute tea in the Song Dynasty is the famous Beiyuan Longfeng tea group. Longfeng Tuancha, named after the dragon and phoenix pattern on Tuanbing Tea, is one of the most famous tribute teas in Song Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, Beiyuan Gongcha also paid special attention to marketing, and its name was very high at first glance, such as Longshou Longya, Longtuan Shengxue, Wanchun Yinye and Yuyuan Yuyuan, so Beiyuan Gongcha was collectively called "Longtuan Feng Bing". After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, it inherited the previous tribute tea system. In Song Taizong, the official baking was located in Beiyuan Royal Tea Garden, and Beiyuan tribute tea began a glorious history. When he arrived in Song Renzong, Cai Xiang, a great calligrapher, was appointed as the transshipment messenger of Fujian. He likes drinking tea. When he was in office, he greatly improved the quality of Beiyuan tribute tea, and Longfeng group tea made the tribute tea at that time more exquisite and expensive than before.
By September of the 24th year of Hongwu (139 1), Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was a waste of people's labor, and ordered to stop making group tea and provide it directly to bud tea. Longfeng group tea disappeared immediately, and loose tea, a new drinking method, has gradually spread to this day. Although there are many imitations of Longfeng tea now, this kind of tea has indeed disappeared in history. I'm afraid no one can say that the appearance and taste of Longfeng group tea must be clear. However, I believe you have also found that Fujian has been the origin of fine tea since ancient times. The above is a tribute tea to the Song Dynasty. What kind of tea is Longfeng Tuancha? Is there any such tea now?