Drinking a cup of delicious weed tea can also help raise fertile fields! Sanyu Weeds Tea Shop inherits the spirit of Shennong Emperor

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It is said that Shennong the Great tasted all kinds of herbs, and then there was the development of agriculture and medicine. next to the Sanyu Palace in Taipei, where the Heavenly Mother worshiped the Emperor Shennong, a grocery store inherited from his grandmother was transformed into a wild grass tea shop "Sanyu". In the bustling street, offer a cup of cool to quench thirst and annealing for passers-by.

At the Sanyu Palace where the Heavenly Mother worships the Shennong Emperor and the Sanyu number next to the overseas Chinese School in Taiwan, the United States and Japan, they sell tea and agricultural products at the same time (photo _ Lin Yijun)

Grandma's grocery store turned into a petite weed tea shop.

Taking the 616 bus all the way to Tianmu, we passed the overseas Chinese School in Taiwan, the United States and Japan, and stopped at the Sanyu Palace and walked into the weed tea shop on the corner. Su Lizhong, the owner and tea maker, was preparing sacrifices. Sister Zhou Peiyi poured the cooled Shuangcao tea into a large bottle. Sister Zhou Yijing and Su Lizhong took bottles and dried fruit and went to the Sanyu Palace not far from next door to worship Shennong the Great.

The San Yu is not big, but it is the place that Zhou Yijing and Zhou Peiyi are most familiar with. "this used to be Grandma's grocery store. When I came back from school, I would sit on the chair at the door and chat with my classmates." Zhou Yijing recalls that now the original grocery store space was divided into three parts. My brother sold chicken steaks on the other end near the Sanyu Palace, while he and his second sister Peiyi opened a weed tea shop on the other end.

Walking into the Sanyu, the most appropriate description is "petite and exquisite." the small space can hold about 8 to 10 people, with only seats without a table. Zhou Yijing explained that this is to create the feeling of sitting in front of the temple, chatting and eating snacks. For the elderly who are not convenient to move their knees and legs, there is also a higher seating area at the rear.

Tea maker Su Lizhong (left), manager Zhou Yijing (center), outfield receptionist Zhou Peiyi (right) (photo _ Lin Yijun)

A new food and agricultural base with the spirit of Shennong the Great

After Zhou Yijing told her friend Su Lizhong about the idea of opening the shop, the two of them saw Shennong the Great worshiped by three jade palaces, and thought of the legend of Shennong spreading all kinds of grass, so the idea of a wild grass tea shop was born. Su Lizhong also became the tea maker of Sanyu.

Su Lizhong, who has an insect background and used to work in the catering industry and later focused on food farmers' education, says that in the past, he was accustomed to natural contact with ecology, and then gradually learned to contact and interact with people in food farmers' education. in the process, he came into contact with many farmers. and local residents with traditional skills, and learn how to live with the land.

After coming into contact with people from all kinds of backgrounds and promoting food farmer education on the front line for several years, Su Lizhong hoped to rein in his past experience in food farmer education, and happened to meet his friend Zhou Yijing who wanted to open a shop. Su Li-Chung believes: "it takes a base to rein in and sort out the things that food farmer education comes into contact with, and tea is one of the media closest to life." The three Jade has become a medium for sharing the link between food and land through actual goods.

Fresh milk tea and rice fragrance made from Xianfeng grass and various weeds (photo _ Lin Yijun)

There are weeds, there are fertile fields, and the first people grazed grass in life.

"Weeds and farmland are inseparable, and only in a good farmland environment will there be a variety of weeds." Su Lizhong said that in the past, when he was doing food farmer education, he often interacted with farmers, and in the process of visiting farmland, he found that many farmers who followed the organic spirit, friendly land, and ecological farming methods would pay special attention to the creation of an environment between farmland. In addition to crops, there are many weeds in farmland.

Su Lizhong said that the Chinese society established the country on the basis of agriculture, and the use of plants by our ancestors was not limited to crops in farmland, but also weeds, or collected in mountains and forests. the folk began to use all kinds of weeds a long time ago, and there are countless records of the medicinal functions of different plants in the Chinese medicine dictionary. today, weeds can appear in every corner of life. "Xiancao, which is often used as a snack, Herb juice, who is cool to quench his thirst in the countryside, and Houttuynia cordata tea are all examples of the use of weeds."

Su Lizhong said that a variety of weeds, especially flowering weeds, can maintain the balance of soil nutrients and water and regulate the microclimate of the overall environment for crop growth. and all kinds of weeds can also create suitable living conditions for many creatures and replenish agricultural land with organic matter at the end of their lives.

Retro and fashionable weed fresh milk tea, Luo spirit drink, plus Hakka mother's metric snacks

Even the retro Herb juice, the three Jade has added many innovative elements, from simple weed tea to weed fresh milk tea, as well as Luoshenhua lemon bubble drink, Su Lizhong explains, "Air bubble drink and fresh milk tea are all popular types of drinks nowadays. Presented in a popular way of drink, it can make people more acceptable and faster to understand weed tea."

After sipping a sip of red jujube, red jujube and Shuangcao tea boiled with fairy grass and houttuynia, the tea soup brings warmth to the body when it enters the throat, while the antipyretic properties of fairy grass and houttuynia make the restlessness of the body calm down, and then match it with the soup of peril. the entrance is slightly chewy and has a faint fragrance of rice, which is really like the time of sitting and chatting with friends at the mouth of the temple, drinking tea and snacks.

Dim sum Shuangcaoli soup soup is the wisdom of Hakka women's life discovered by Su Lizhong when he was doing a villager story workshop in Nanpu Village, Beipu Township, Hsinchu. The soup is made of glutinous rice and tastes a bit like sesame, white is the original flavor, and the green one is moxa grass. The two are paired with Shuangcao tea. Su Lizhong wants to combine Hakka life experience and weed elements. Try it together with the local Hakka mother. The light rice fragrance has a slight taste of moxa grass, which is eaten together with prepared Shuangcao tea, which pulls out some levels of the original flavor.

Red jujube Shuangcao tea (right), Shuangcao tea soup (left), Hakka mother made of rice, white is the original flavor, green is moxa flavor (photo _ Lin Yijun)

The common weeds are limited in season, and there are always surprises when you come to drink.

Speaking of the characteristics of weeds, Su Lizhong said that weeds are regular, seasonal, and regional, and can be found everywhere in all kinds of places (normality). Different kinds of weeds will grow differently in different seasons (seasonality). Different places will have different weed ecology (regionality) due to climate and soil and water environment.

Because of these three characteristics of weeds, there will be more weed characteristics in the menu in the future, and the current menu is based on normality. Su Li-Chung visits local farms from time to time to find interesting weeds. "only when the ecological environment of the farm is good, and farmers have the idea of being kind to weeds, will they be taken into consideration."

The supply status, quality and quantity of many kinds of special weed raw materials are not stable at present. Su Li-Chung says that most of the common grasses in the store, such as fairy grass and houttuynia, come from Caoshengyuan-Jianxing Green Grass Store, while special weed raw materials are collected in season or in limited quantities.

Encourage you to bring your own containers, reduce plastic, drink tea and sell agricultural products

The taste of wild grass tea is different from that of ordinary hand-made drinks. How did the visitors react after opening the shop? Zhou Yijing said that the main visitors are office workers and mothers with children. "for the elders, Herb juice is a drink after mountain climbing or after work." In addition, there are nearby schools for overseas Chinese in Taiwan, the United States and Japan, and sometimes parents who pick up their children from work come to patronize them.

Zhou Peiyi, who is responsible for greeting at the counter and mainly interacting with customers, says that most of the visitors are 30 to 50 years old, and there has also been an increase in young customers recently. office workers often choose Houttuynia cordata tea and Shuangcao tea. young customers are more likely to choose weed fresh milk tea, Luoshenhua lemon bubble drinks and snacks, and the number of inquiries in the store has also increased a lot after the epidemic.

Selling wild grass tea in the store also advocates plastic reduction. Zhou Yijing explains that hand drinks use a lot of packaging materials, so when customers buy their own containers, or old bottles will be refilled, there will be a discount price, and if the purchase volume is large, they will also be encouraged to bring their own large bottles, and it is more favorable.

In addition to wild grass tea, there are also other products on display in the store, such as houttuynia tea bags, as well as environmentally friendly lemons and Luoshen dried flowers. Chou Yijing says that Sanyu is not big, but it is also to support farmers who maintain a good environment and good ecology. Do your part in cotton.

Sell houttuynia tea bags in the store (right), encourage large buyers to use reusable bottles (left) (photo _ Lin Yijun)

The purpose of educating farmers and selling tea is to make the environment more sustainable.

You can drink tea in the store, and occasionally hold small activities. The fan page of Sanyu even introduces weeds every week, ranging from pharmacopoeia records and folk usage to growth characteristics, appearance characteristics, and scientific names. These were recorded by Su Lizhong when he went to visit the farm. "even if you turn to selling tea, you are still educating food farmers!"

"buying and selling is not only a commercial act, but also a means to make the environment sustainable." Su Lizhong explains that from the education of food farmers to the San Yu, the original intention is to hope that the environment will be sustainable, and selling tea and agricultural products is a way to go back and support farmers. Farmers are willing to create a good ecological environment, so that there will be crops and weeds, and the environment can last forever.