Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

The atmosphere in the yard was a little awkward. Seeing this, Jiang Erniang glanced at Xie Daoyun and said hurriedly, "It's just stir-fried tea. I believe you can do it, Yin."

Hearing this, Xie Daoyun instantly breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Jiang Erniang would agree.

Jiang Yin looked embarrassed, knowing that Er Niang was rejecting her.

So, Er Niang knew about Xie Daoyun's identity? Neither of them wanted to have anything to do with Dongjing and the government?

Although she could understand it, she was still a little worried. What if her skills were not up to par and the tea she made was not recognized?

"Second Mother~" Jiang Yin looked at Jiang Second Mother pitifully and said, "But I'm worried, what should I do?"

Jiang Erniang sighed, raised her hand and patted her head, comforting her: "What are you afraid of? It's just making tea. Starting tomorrow, I will practice with you. Your tea-making skills were good enough in previous years, and I believe you will have no problem this year."

She gave Xie Daoyun a look, indicating that Xie Daoyun should say something quickly.

Xie Daoyun's mouth twitched slightly, feeling somewhat helpless, but he could only say faintly: "Don't worry, it's okay."

The taste of the tea is just so-so, and no one would say anything about the slight difference.

Jiang Yin failed to seek help and had to return empty-handed. He only made an appointment with Jiang Erniang to pick tea and make preparations together tomorrow.

Mengshan tea is usually picked during the Spring Equinox, when one or two out of ten buds on the tea trees have unfolded, and then the tea can be picked.

But because there is a royal tea garden in Mengshan, they will start picking other teas only after they have finished picking the Zhenggong tea and Gong tea.

The picking season of Zhenggong tea is before Qingming Festival, and the specific picking time is determined by the government. Therefore, there may be some differences in the picking time every year, but it is not a big deal.

Now that the spring equinox has just passed, the tea on Mount Meng is ready for picking. When Jiang Yin went to the Tea and Horse Bureau, she told Yan Li that she wanted to pick some first to practice. Yan Li agreed.

After preparing the tea picking tools, Jiang Yin went to the tea mountain to pick tea early the next morning with Jiang Er Niang and others. Aunt Feng also joined in the fun.

At the beginning of tea picking, only plump single buds and buds with one bud and one leaf just beginning to unfold are picked. And the three no-picking principles are strictly followed: no picking of diseased leaves, no picking in rain, and no picking in dew.

As long as one of the standards is not met, the roasted tea will be different, and the Jiang family has always strictly prohibited this from happening.

The picked fresh leaves cannot be kept overnight and must be fried on the same day.

Zhenggong tea is Mengdingshihua, which belongs to the category of green tea. It is a flat green tea among green teas, and it is also the earliest flat tea.

Because of its natural and beautiful appearance, like moss growing on ancient rocks in the jungle, the whole buds look like flowers after brewing. And because it is produced in Mount Mengshan, it is called Mengding Stone Flower.

Mengding Shihua is a high-grade famous tea, which is produced in extremely small quantities and is made with fine workmanship and very small tools.

The process of making tea is both simple and complex.

The process needs to include stacking fresh leaves, withering, cooling, stir-frying the second green leaves, cooling, stir-frying the third green leaves, cooling, shaping and lifting the tips, cooling and drying.

When the fresh buds are spread out and separated from the mother body, respiration is still going on. Water evaporates through the stomata on the surface of the buds, causing a series of changes, making the buds soften and the green smell gradually disappear.

The young buds that have been spread out are easier to dehydrate when withering, and the Mengding Shihua made from fresh buds that are not spread out has a richer aroma and a more mellow taste.

Generally speaking, the spreading time is two to three hours, and the thickness is one to two fingers wide. The spreading area should be clean, well-lit and ventilated.

During the spreading process, it is necessary to shake it to facilitate the release of moisture.

Jiang Yin brought all the fresh tea leaves he had picked to the tea factory, flattened them and spread them out, and he personally watched over the shaking of them.

Mengding Shihua belongs to the category of green tea, and the withering process in the manufacturing process is a key step in achieving excellent quality.

The purpose of withering is to destroy the activity of enzymes, evaporate water, remove low-boiling-point green gas, and form good color, aroma and taste.

The temperature of the pot for killing green tea gradually decreases from low to high.

When killing the green leaves and adding sprouts, add about 300 grams each time. When the pot temperature reaches the requirement, add the sprouts.

After putting it in, stir it in the pot with both hands. When the water vapor evaporates a lot, change the process of stir-frying by stewing to one of stir-frying by stewing and shaking.

Separate the thumb and four little fingers of one hand and grab two or three handfuls of tea buds in the pot. When the tea buds are basically in your hands, sprinkle them into the pot.

This combination of shaking and stuffing is repeated alternately until the water content of the tea buds reaches 2/4 and the weight loss rate is about half. The color of the buds changes from tender yellow to green-yellow, and the tea aroma is strong, which means that the tea is properly withered.

The Mengdingshihua is cooled many times during processing in order to ensure uniform water loss inside and outside the buds.

Let it cool for about a quarter of an hour each time. If the cooling time is too short, the requirement of water redistribution cannot be achieved and yellowing is likely to occur.

The pan temperature for stir-frying Erqing needs to be lower than that for killing the green. The amount of sprouts added each time, the stir-frying time, and the water content after stir-frying are also lower than those for killing the green.

The same is true for stir-fried three greens. The pan temperature, amount of sprouts and stir-frying time are not much different from stir-fried two greens. It’s just that the water content after stir-frying is lower.

The operation technique of frying the second and third green teas is also mostly done with one hand. The thumb and four little fingers are separated, and the tea buds are pressed flat and grabbed in the pot.

After two or three times, the tea buds are already in your hands. Then, with your palm facing up, throw the tea into the pot. Repeat this process until the water is lost and the tea buds form a flat and beautiful prototype of a stone flower.

After it has cooled, it is time to shape it and lift the tips.

Heat the pan temperature to a lower level than when stir-frying the three greens, and put the sprouts that have been cooled after stir-frying into the pan.

The tea buds are heated and dehydrated by a combination of steaming and shaking until the moisture content is reduced to about one-fourth.

At this time, the tea buds are highly plastic, and are flattened and straightened, and fried to a water content of about one-fifth, so that the shape is basically fixed.

Increase the temperature of the pan slightly, stir-fry for a while, until the white hairs appear and the water content decreases slightly again, then you can remove from the pan and let cool.

As for the final drying, it is done in a drying cage, with about 300 grams of rice dried in each cage, using a slow fire to dry it.

After baking, it is taken out of the oven to cool, the flakes are sifted out, and then packed and stored.

The tea-making technique is tedious and repetitive, requiring repeated practice to accumulate experience in order to control the required temperature, time and moisture changes.

An experienced craftsman can tell whether the fire temperature is sufficient, where is not right, etc. with just one glance.

This was also what Jiang Yin was worried about before. She was worried that she lacked experience and would not be able to control these things.

At this moment, Jiang Yin was just about to finish roasting his first pot of tea this year.

After washing her face and hands, Jiang Yin changed into clean special clothes and wrapped her hair with a headscarf. She stood in front of the pot and took a deep breath to prepare.

Xiao Luo, Jiang Yin's old partner, was doing her best to keep the fire going for him.

Jiang Erniang, who was dressed in the same way, stood beside Jiang Yin, keeping an eye on his situation.

Seeing Jiang Yin's nervous look, she chuckled and comforted him, "Relax, just cook as boldly as before."