陸羽性格真誠率真，有強烈求知欲，成年之後廣交友人，但所結交對象多屬性格、學識相近的文人。陸羽居於湖州的時間最長，認識的朋友最多，透過顏真卿編纂《韻海鏡源》的機會，利用「以文會友」、「以遊會友」、「以詩會友」、「以藝會友」的方式熟識各方人才，這些文人的身份有官員、文人、僧侶、道士、醫生等；才華偏向文學、詩賦、藝術等素養；出身地區則多江蘇、浙江等文化重鎮，在身份、才華、地區方面呈現多元豐富的特點。陸羽和這些素養多樣的友人一同工作、交遊，不僅開拓文化視野，也得到刺激與觀摩，在文學、詩賦、藝術、大自然感通能力的視野與能力方面，具有培育的奠基作用，這些多層面的文化養份也正是陸羽著作《茶經》最主要的底蘊。
Lu Yu had a sincere and passionate personality, along with a strong urge for knowledge. After his coming of age, Lu made many friends with the literati who shared similar personality and urge for knowledge. Lu had lived in Huzhou（today's Wuxing, Zhejiang）for the longest time; it was in this region he got to know many of his friends. Utilizing the opportunity of Yan Zhengqing's editorial work on Yunhai jingyuan or Mirror-source of the Ocean of Rhymes, Lu met all kinds of like-minded people on various occasions of gathering, trips and poetry-writing contest. Lu's friends from the literati included officials, scholars, Buddhist and Taoist monks, and physicians. These people of diversified professions shared similar talents of literature, poetry, and art. Most of them came from important cultural centers like Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Working and travelling with these friends of multiple talents, Lu Yu found his own cultural perspective widely expanded. He also felt inspired and elevated in terms of literature, poetry, art, and the understanding of nature. These cultural resources proved to be useful for Lu when he worked on The Classic of Tea.
