"It is better to have no meat for a hundred days than no tea for one day" is a portrayal of the life of Fujian people. Fujian people love tea, and Fujian has good tea. Chinese tea is divided into six categories, and Fujian accounts for "half of the country". Among them, Dahongpao , Tieguanyin of oolong tea, Zhengshan Souchong of black tea, Fuding white tea of white tea are all very famous. The more Fujian people love tea, the more extreme they are in the development of tea. A cup of tea is endowed with health care, tasting and social value; a leaf is entrusted with the dream of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. There is the world in tea, and the universe in tea. People's Net Fujian Channel specially launched the "Tea Viewing" column , inviting tea experts and scholars to talk and taste tea together.
The second phase of tea viewing experts: Chen Huaiyuan
Honorary chairman of Taiwan Tea Culture Association, Pu'er tea expert, photographer
Member of China Pu'er Tea International Tasting Committee, member of China Hunan Dark Tea International Tasting Committee
"Pu'er Tea" It is the last stop for all tea lovers." The phrase has been circulating in the Pu'er tea industry for a long time, and Pu'er tea lovers are almost familiar with it. Pu-erh tea has the characteristics of getting more fragrant as it ages, but its market conditions are ups and downs, cyclical, and it is a problem that cannot be ignored by tea people.
How to identify good Pu'er tea? How to collect Pu'er tea to be valuable?
Chen Huaiyuan, who has been associated with Pu-erh tea for more than 40 years, regards Pu-erh tea as a career in his life - "the mountains are here, the tea is here, and I am here". Although born in Taiwan, Chen Huaiyuan spends most of the year in the deep mountains of Yiwu in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, looking for, picking and making tea. He has unique opinions on the storage, drinking and tasting of Pu-erh tea.
How to identify good Pu'er tea?
According to the definition of the national standard GB/T22111-2008 "Geographical Indication Product Pu'er Tea", it is made of Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried green tea within the scope of geographical indication protection, and it is made by post-fermentation process and has unique quality characteristics. , it is called Pu'er tea.
From the definition of Pu'er tea, we know that Pu'er tea is "post-fermented tea", which is the main feature that distinguishes it from the other six major types of tea. Post-fermented tea has the characteristic of getting more fragrant with age. At the same time, the tea tree of the large-leaf species is rich in substances. With the fermentation and transformation of time, the taste of the tea soup changes from bitter and astringent to mellow and smooth, which is more valuable for drinking.
Chen Huaiyuan said, currently does not lack tea in the Pu'er tea market, but what is lacking is good Pu'er tea .
Fengqing 3200 years ancient tea tree . How does Chen Huaiyuan's
identify good Pu'er tea? "The quality of Pu'er hair tea, the geographical conditions of the origin, and the integrity of the manufacturing process are the most important criteria, followed by the year of Pu'er tea storage." tea), the tree age should be old, and the vegetation in the growing environment should be better. After the tea leaves picked in this way are made by standard technology and stored in dry warehouses for five, ten and twenty years, the taste of the tea soup becomes softer and thicker.
In other words, has the aging potential of big tree tea , which can stand the test of quality, and is the "golden brick" that Pu'er tea lovers are reluctant to sell.
It is undeniable that the really good Pu'er tea attracts collectors, but with the gradual shortage of old tea on the market, new Pu'er tea has become a hot commodity, especially the new tea with good origin, which is more collectible. value. In the early years of
, Chen Huaiyuan advocated: Tibetan new tea, cooked tea , and old tea . "There is no new tea in existence today. How can he drink the old tea in his new year? The new tea continues the old tea, so that the legend of Tibetan tea can continue again and again." Is the transformation of
Pu'er tea fast or slow?
Because of the "post-fermentation" feature of Pu-erh tea, the relationship between the tea drinking and the storage time is very close. So, is Pu-erh tea better? During the storage process, is the conversion faster or slower?
"Whether the transformation is fast or slow is the core issue of the Pu'er tea circle, and there is no absolute answer." Chen Huaiyuan said that if you want to maintain a good tea soup taste and stable aroma purity, you must transform slowly; if you don't pay attention to tea soup taste like incenseHong Kong people drink Pu'er tea, pay attention to efficiency, and hope to change quickly.
Youle Ancient Tea Mountain Jinuo people pick tea. Temperature and humidity are important conditions for the transformation speed of Pu'er tea. Fast conversion requires relatively high temperature and humidity; slow conversion requires relatively low temperature and humidity. For
, for storing tea, the temperature should generally be controlled within 30°C, and it should be protected from light. Long-term exposure to strong light, the humidity of tea leaves will be unbalanced, the surface of tea leaves will dry and turn red, and the tea soup will taste bland. The relative humidity of 75% is a critical point. Below 75%, it is not easy to produce microorganisms. The surface of the tea cake will be shiny and the tea soup will taste more mellow; if it is higher than 75%, it will lead to the transformation of microorganisms, and the surface of the tea cake will be damaged. will be dark.
So, what kind of Pu'er tea is suitable for long-term storage? It is also inseparable from the quality of tea leaves and the tea making process.
"Original" good new tea, because of the excellent production area and variety, the tea contains rich substances, the tea has a strong aroma, the tea soup is fresh and sweet, and the entrance is smooth, so it is suitable for long-term storage. At the same time, the traditional tea-making process is used to make the tea in place, that is, the temperature of the fried green should not be too high or too low, and the kneading force should be neither heavy nor light, so that the taste of the tea soup produced will be relatively consistent.
"Good Pu-erh tea tastes very good back then. If it is stored for five years, ten years or even longer, it will get better and better." Chen Huaiyuan said.
"Oolong tea is the foundation of tea, Pu'er tea is the end point of tea"
In Chen Huaiyuan's view, Chinese tea can be divided into two important routes, one is the oolong tea route represented by craftsmanship, and the other is the endoplasmic route. The representative Pu-erh tea route . "The foundation of the tea road is oolong tea, and the end point is Pu'er tea." Why does
say that? The process of
Oolong tea is very complicated. There are more than ten procedures for picking, withering, and baking. The fermentation degree of the production process is different, and the final aroma is also different, including floral, fruity, honey, and so on.
"As long as you understand the craftsmanship of oolong tea, it's easy to learn about other teas." Chen Huaiyuan said that his own research on the six major tea types in China follows this principle.
"Like oolong tea, the production of Pu'er tea also requires multiple processes and also has rich aromas. But Pu'er tea is very valuable in its content of ." Chen Huaiyuan analyzed that Pu'er tea contains substances First, there is a great correlation with the variety of tea trees. There are many ancient Pu’er tea trees that are over a hundred years old, and there are even thousand-year-old trees that can still produce tea every year. The rock tea tea tree in oolong tea has Centennial trees are less. The second is that it depends on its post-fermentation characteristics. With time storage, the content of substances becomes more and more abundant.
Chen Huaiyuan participated in the production of Pu'er tea, the picture shows the tea-frying session. Photo provided by the interviewee
Pu'er tea is Chen Huaiyuan's lifelong pursuit and the end of his tea journey. In the book "Pu'er Tea Records", Chen Huaiyuan mentioned his persistence in Yiwu, one of the six ancient tea mountains in Yunnan for more than 20 years. Many ancient tea trees grow in dangerous high mountains and have to venture to explore.
"Good tea leaves are found through mountains and mountains. Good tea is made by me looking at it with my eyes." devoted decades of years to the tea mountain, and Chen Huaiyuan was even more firm in the simple original intention of the tea maker : Find good tea and make good tea.
Editor｜Lin Chengye Chen Teng
Review｜Zhong Qiaohua Chen Huanhuan
Source｜People's Network Fujian Channel Chen Huanhuan
