平安中晚期的茶文化可分為三大支派，一為文人茶風，二為皇室茶風，三為佛寺僧侶茶風，三者獨立發展，也有相互的影響。其中文人飲茶以菅原道真、島田忠臣、都良香等文人為代表，這些文人的生活態度與心境反映著日本平安時期池亭生活的趣味。從茶詩的內容可見，此時文人茶風與平安早期弘仁時代有極大的共通性，追求道家怡然生活與神仙自得的心境，在煮茶與飲清茶湯的形式上也和弘仁時代相同；但形態上則與弘仁時代略有差異，茶文化已逐漸滲入文人生活，表現生活化、個人化的特徵。整體而言，平安晚期茶文化內涵朝多元發展，融匯著文學藝術內涵、道家自得精神、醫療藥用作用等三大內涵，為未來日本茶道奠定廣博之文化基礎。然而，平安中晚期的茶文化活動之所以不如平安早期弘仁階段光采，主因在於文人茶風漸缺乏新元素的刺激與活化，佛寺茶風漸取代文人茶風，成為日本茶風的新主流。不過此時追求精神性、生活化、個人化的文人茶風已成為日本茶文化的主要特徵，為日後完整精粹的日本茶道構築深厚的文化底蘊。

Tea culture in the middle and late Heian period developed in three directions: literati tea style, royal tea style, and monk tea style in Buddhist temples. They developed independently but also influenced each other. Among these three styles, the literati tea style can be represented by literati-scholars like Sugawara no Michizane, Shimada no Tadaomi, and Miyako no Yoshika. Their lives and mental status reflected the interesting ways of life in Heian period. From their tea poems, we can see the continuity of their tea style and that of the early Heian period; they shared similar pursuit of Taoist life of leisure and immortality and they drank tea in much the similar ways. The major difference was the form of tea style. Since the middle Heian period, tea culture permeated into life of literati and tea became an element of individual daily life.Generally speaking, the tea culture in late Heian period developed in multiple directions and merged into developments in arts and literature, Taoist practices towards immortality, and the medical uses of tea. This prepared the future cultural base for the Tao of Tea in Japan. However, in the late Heian period, the tea culture movement was not so stimulated as in early Heian period, because the literati tea style lacked new elements. The Buddhist tea style gradually replaced the literati tea style and became the new mainstream. In this period, however, the literati tea style focusing on the spirituality, daily-life practicality, and individualized manner had become the new characteristic of Japanese tea culture, establishing a solid cultural base for the essence of Japanese Tao of Tea.