Chapter 110 tea fun

The writer Mr. He Manzi once commented: Mr. Ma Yifu is the one with the best tea appreciation in recent times. Ma Yifu lived in Hangzhou for a long time, and settled in Huagang Guanyu Jiangzhuang in his later years. The famous Longjing tea production area is nearby.He likes Longjing tea, and whenever new teas are released, friends often send some for him to taste.But his favorite drink is Yunnan Tuocha, which is thousands of miles away. Once, a friend brought Tuocha from Yunnan. He introduced it: Tuocha is a kind of Puer tea.Ma Yifu tried it, and as he said, after several tastings, he became very interested in Tuocha.In comparison, Longjing tea is too talkative, he said.There is no supply of Tuo tea from Yunnan in Hangzhou, so purchasing has become a problem.At the beginning, a friend brought them from Yunnan. Although the quantity was not large, it was like sending charcoal in a timely manner; later, I asked someone to buy some.But drinking tea every day and entrusting someone to buy it in Yunnan is really "difficult to quench thirst for tea at a distance".Mr. Tang Yansen, Ma Lao's relative, was very anxious and asked around, and finally found that it was sold in a specialty store in Shanghai.With tea, the selection of tea sets becomes a major event.

The ancients paid great attention to tea cooking tools and cooking utensils, and they have already achieved an ingenious level of craftsmanship in the production of tea sets.So Ma Yifu imitated the ancients, or made his own, or bought a set of tea sets with great artistic value.Take the tea stove as an example. He chose high-quality copper materials and hired skilled craftsmen to build a small tea stove with a round shape and slightly larger than a volleyball.There is also a stew pot, which is fired with coarse sand, and the tea tastes pure, and there is absolutely no rust taste.But the most exquisite tea set is the purple sand pot for making tea. It is made by Mr. Ma himself. Yixing masters use standard purple sand clay and carefully fire it according to traditional techniques.This purple clay teapot is simple in shape and fine in texture. The lid is like a pumpkin stalk, and a couplet is engraved on it: the soup is tender, the water is clear and the flowers are not scattered, and the sweetness and refreshing taste are long.Ma Yifu's tea set is small, exquisite and full of artistry.For example, the small fire tongs for picking charcoal fire are made of copper and only half the size of the usual tongs; the small teacups he uses are like toys, only slightly larger than the northern wine cups, and they are also very ornamental.This set of tea sets has been used by Ma Yifu for decades and is very precious.It's a pity that it has disappeared during the ten-year catastrophe, which is really a pity.

The fire for boiling water is also particular.At first, Ma Yifu used firewood to burn tea, which was smoky and polluted the water quality; later, he switched to briquettes, but there was still black smoke and the water tasted impure.After a period of time, Ma Yifu developed a high-quality small charcoal cake. The method is: select high-quality charcoal, mash it and add water to mix well; then make many small wooden molds (moon cake size) with wooden boards, put charcoal mud into them, wait Take it out after drying and serve.This kind of "small charcoal cake" is smokeless and odorless, and the fire is slow and stable. It neither affects the water quality nor pollutes the air. It is most suitable for making tea.

After Ma Yifu made the cooked tea, he would drink it by himself, closing his eyes and resting his mind.When he tastes tea, he often associates poetry with Zen.For example, when he read Lu Tong's sentence "The muscles and bones are clear, the spirit is connected to the fairy, and the two armpits are exposed to the breeze", he wanted to say: "This is the realm of Taoism!" He read Fan Zhongyan: "It's not as good as a sip from the fairy mountain. When "flying on the wind", it will also say: "a school of fairy spirit".When I read Monk Jintian's poem: "Not only is it good to clear the heart and eyesight, but meditation can subdue the army of sleeping demons", I thought: "This monk is seeking Buddhist principles." , Fan and the two are far apart."

Ma Yifu has tea drinking habits that make people laugh, such as the "tea rust" (actually "tea scale") in the purple sand pot. He euphemistically calls it "tea mountain". Although it has turned black and even dirty, it has never Do not wash, just rinse with water every morning.Someone asked about this, and he said that with tea mountains, the water is clearer and the taste is purer, that's all.