Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

Jiang Yin came to Huizhou this time and had to rush back to Mengshan after staying for a few days.

Therefore, she followed Jiang Si Niang to the tea garden early the next morning and went into the garden to pick fresh leaves, preparing to stir-fry tea according to the Huangshan Maofeng method.

The frying method of Huangshan Maofeng is simpler than that of Mengshan tea. Xu An demonstrated it once, and Jiang Si Niang learned it after watching it once.

The Mengding Shihua fried by Jiang's family needs to go through the steps of stacking fresh leaves, withering, cooling, frying the second green, cooling, frying the third green, cooling, shaping and raising the tips, cooling and drying.

Mengding Stone Flower has a natural and beautiful shape, and its appearance resembles moss on a stone. After brewing, the whole buds look like flowers.

Flat, straight, tender green and moist. The soup is tender green, clear and bright. The aroma is rich, fragrant and fresh. The taste is fresh, rich and sweet. The leaf bottom is tender and the buds and leaves are even.

As for Mengding Huangya, it needs to go through the processes of spreading fresh leaves, withering, cooling, frying the second green, wrapping the yellow, frying the third green, piling the yellow, frying the fourth time, drying and baking.

The Mengding Huangya tea has a flat and straight appearance, even buds, tender yellow color, visible bud hairs, a long and subtle floral fragrance, a bright yellow and translucent green soup, and a fresh, mellow and sweet taste.

Mengding Shihua is green tea, Huangya is yellow tea. Although Huangshan Maofeng tastes like a mixture of the two, the difference can be seen from the cooking method.

Huangshan Maofeng has a white hairy body and its buds are like peaks, hence the name Maofeng. After the place name, it became Huangshan Maofeng.

Huangshan Maofeng tea has thick, even buds and many hairs. It has a fresh and long aroma, a strong and mellow taste, and a sweet aftertaste.

The tea soup is clear and bright, and the leaves are tender yellow, plump, and evenly bright.

According to Xu An, if one can achieve perfection, the fried Huangshan Maofeng tea can be summarized in eight words: fragrant, mellow, clear soup and smooth color.

Of course, this is just their guess. After all, no one has yet made the perfect Huangshan Maofeng tea.

The frying process of Huangshan Maofeng is very simple, consisting of only four steps: spreading and sorting the fresh leaves, withering, rolling and baking.

Just like Mengshan tea, after the fresh leaves are spread out and sorted, they are then withered.

Killing the green is the second step in the frying process of Huangshan Maofeng tea. It can keep the tea leaves’ inherent green color and is the key to ensuring the tea soup is clear and the leaves are green.

The method of withering is to combine steaming and shaking. First, spread the fresh leaves evenly on the bottom of the pot and steam them to remove as much moisture as possible from the leaves.

When a lot of steam overflows from the pot, stir-fry to kill the green tea. When stir-frying, pay attention to the hand movements to be light and not too hard to avoid squeezing out the tea juice and causing the tea leaves to darken in color.

Huangshan Maofeng tea is withered until the moisture content is reduced to less than half, the leaves can be rolled into a ball, the tender stems are not easy to break, and the color is dark green.

The next step is kneading.

After the withered green leaves are removed from the pot, spread them out in a dustpan and stir them evenly. Then, stir them gently several times with your hands to stir them thoroughly.

After the heat inside the withered green leaves dissipates, pour the withered green leaves into the basket. Press the withered green leaves with both hands and rub them repeatedly to make the green leaves curl into strips.

The speed should be slow when rolling and not too hard. Also, be sure to shake while rolling to keep the buds and leaves intact.

Rolling and twisting is the shaping process in the initial processing of Huangshan Maofeng tea. The tight and curved appearance of Maofeng tea is formed through rolling and twisting.

At the same time, after the fried green leaves are squeezed, part of the tea structure will gradually twist and break, and the seeping tea juice will adhere to the surface of the rolled leaves, which can increase the adhesion of the tea.

After kneading, the final step is baking.

Huangshan Maofeng tea is baked in a baking cage, which consists of a baking top and a baking ring and is woven with bamboo strips.

After the kneading and twisting is completed, put charcoal fire under the baking ring and cover the baking top.

To prevent the smoke from affecting the quality of the tea, wait until there is no smoke coming out of the top of the drying cage before putting the green leaves in.

Spread the green leaves evenly on the drying top, and then keep checking the dryness of the green leaves.

After the tea leaves are dried and baked, they need to be picked out of debris, packaged while hot, and sealed before being sold.

This is the entire roasting process of Huangshan Maofeng tea, which is different from Mengshan tea and is also simpler.

Jiang Yin watched Jiang Si Niang demonstrate it carefully and couldn't help but sigh: "Compared to others, this method is too simple. It's a pity that the complicated Mengshan tea frying method can't improve the taste of Huangshan Maofeng."

It is said that the finer and more refined it is, the better.

But obviously, this rule does not apply to Huangshan Maofeng tea.

Jiang Si Niang wiped the sweat from her forehead and went out with Jiang Yin to the yard to enjoy the cool breeze.

She nodded in agreement, "That's right. Even though it's just a small piece of loose tea, it's much harder to handle than our Mengshan tea."

But if the taste of Huangshan Maofeng tea can be improved, it would be a good deed and also a huge business opportunity.

"Then how about we try to roll and twist the tea after killing the second green?" Jiang Yin thought for a moment and suggested, "We can also try not rolling and twisting the tea after killing the second green.

In short, we can combine the roasting techniques of Mengshan tea, take the best of both worlds, try different methods, and maybe we will get unexpected results. "

Previously, they all went their own way and did not interfere with each other. But it turned out that this approach was not feasible.

Then be bold and combine the two different techniques and try them side by side.

Jiang Si Niang pursed her lips and said hesitantly: "But if this fails, a lot of fresh leaves will be wasted."

Tea was in short supply, and secretly, she didn't want to waste it.

"It's okay." Jiang Yin raised his hand and said, "You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb. At worst, we can just fry less tea in each pot."

Just stir-fry it to taste it, a little is enough.

Although Jiang Si Niang was reluctant, she was still able to prioritize. She immediately called the two tea girls she brought with her to discuss what to do next.

Once all the possibilities have been listed, start practicing them one by one according to the listed methods.

It's a pity that after working for a whole day, the Huangshan Maofeng tea they cooked was not as good as the best but better than the worst.

It is better than the tea roasted using the Mengshan tea method, but it is indeed worse than the original Huangshan Maofeng tea.

Jiang Si Niang smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that this Maofeng tea is not meant for us."

If things can't get better, there's no point in setting up business here. I can only find another way out, or go back to grow Mengshan tea.

Jiang Yin lowered her eyes and said nothing, she just pursed her lips, not knowing what she was thinking.

After a while, Xiao Luo came to report: "Madam, Boss Xu is here, do you want to see him?"

Jiang Yin looked in the direction Xiao Luo was looking, and sure enough, Xu An was waiting outside the garden with a booklet in his hand.

She tilted her head to look at Jiang Si Niang and said, "Si Niang, do you think we should meet him?"

"A visitor is a guest, so of course we have to meet him." Jiang Si Niang said unhappily, "Besides, he didn't force his way in."

"That's right, Si Niang." Jiang Yin grinned and turned his head to Xiao Luo, "Go quickly and invite Boss Xu in."

Xiao Luo bowed and hurried to the outside of the garden to welcome Boss Xu in.