Chapter 20 8. Black tea

Dark tea has its unique standard and flavor in terms of fresh leaf selection, technological process, and requirements for its color and quality, forming a unique "black" character with green tea, black tea, white tea, yellow tea, scented tea, etc. of tea. What kind of production process does green fresh tea become black tea?The earliest black tea was produced in Sichuan, and it was a side-sale tea made by steaming green hair tea.Sichuan tea must be transported to the Northwest region. Due to inconvenient transportation and transportation difficulties, it must be reduced in volume and steamed into clumps.In the process of processing into agglomerates, it takes more than 20 days to accumulate wet billets, so the color of raw tea gradually changes from green to black.The color of the finished lump tea leaves is dark brown, which forms the unique flavor of the tea, which is the origin of black tea.

The picking standard for dark tea is usually five to six leaves per bud, with thick leaves and long stems.The basic process of its production is high-temperature greening, rolling, accumulation and coloring, and drying.Because the raw materials of dark tea are relatively thick and old, and the accumulation and fermentation time in the manufacturing process is usually long. Under normal circumstances, 12-18 hours in spring and 8-12 hours in summer and autumn, the leaves are oily black or dark brown, so it is called black tea. Tea.Dark tea is mainly consumed by ethnic minorities in the frontier, so it is also called border tea.Heimao tea is also the main raw material for pressing various pressed teas. The pressed tea of ​​various black teas is a necessity in the daily life of brothers such as Tibetans, Mongolians and Uyghurs. tea".Due to differences in production areas and craftsmanship, black tea can be divided into Hunan dark tea, Hubei old green tea, Sichuan edge tea and Diangui dark tea.Among them, Yunnan dark tea is made from Dianqing Maocha, which is fermented by tidal retting and dried, and is collectively referred to as Pu'er tea.Pu-erh loose tea is a kind of black tea with a unique strong and mellow aroma.Dark tea is mainly sold on the sidelines, part of it is sold domestically, and a small amount is sold overseas.

1.Liubao Tea Liubao Tea is produced in Liubao Mountain in the northwest of Cangwu County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.Cangwu County is located at 23°27' north latitude of the Tropic of Cancer, with strong solar radiation, high temperature and abundant rainfall. The annual average temperature is 21.2°C and the average annual precipitation is 1500.7 mm. In Liubao mountainous area, the temperature is lower, it is cool and humid, and the soil is relatively fertile. The tea trees are tall, with a plant height of several meters, and the leaves are large and soft.The production is divided into fresh leaves withering, rolling, chopping, stacking, drying and other processes.The characteristic of this tea is the "steaming" method. The tea leaves that are about to be dried are graded and steamed in large wooden barrels, and then spread into special square-bottomed round-shaped bamboo baskets. They are put into warehouses to dry naturally, and finally stored for one or two months. Aging is the finished product.

Its soup is red and thick, the taste is rich and mellow, and it contains the aroma of betel nut, which has a unique flavor.The tea has the effects of clearing away heat and nourishing the lungs, eliminating stagnation and accumulation.In 1983, Liubao Tea won the Quality Product Award from the Ministry of Commerce. 2.Pu'er tea Yunnan Pu'er tea is produced in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.Xishuangbanna used to be under the jurisdiction of Pu'er County, and all the tea produced was collected and distributed in Pu'er County, so it was called.At present, the Menghai Tea Factory in Menghai County has the largest output, accounting for 70% of the total output of the tea area.Tea tree is an arbor type large-leaf species, which is one of the fine varieties.It grows in the hilly area on the west bank of the Lancang River, with an average annual temperature of 18-20°C, no frost in winter and spring, an annual precipitation of 1000-1600 mm, and a relative humidity of 80-92%. It is surrounded by clouds and fog all year round, with short sunshine, more diffuse light, and rich ultraviolet light. , the temperature difference between the four seasons is small, and the temperature difference between day and night is large.The big-leaf tea tree has the characteristics of early germination, good tenderness, fat buds and leaves, extra hair, soft leaves, and high water extract of fresh leaves.

Pu-erh tea harvesting process and its quality: primary raw tea is divided into three specifications: spring, summer and autumn.Spring tea is divided into three grades: Chunjian, Chunzhong, and Chunwei; summer tea is also called Ershui; autumn tea is called Guhua.Among the Pu-erh teas, Chunjian and Guhua are the best in quality.Pu-erh tea made from its fresh leaves through a special process has a strong aroma, is resistant to foaming, has a bright yellow soup, a quiet aroma, and a mellow taste.Its varieties include loose tea and tight tea such as Tuocha and square tea processed from loose tea.Loose tea has a large, straight and complete shape, dark brown or brownish red color, thick and bright red soup, mellow and sweet aftertaste, has a special aged aroma, is resistant to storage, and is famous for getting better with age, suitable for cooking and drinking refreshing.

Pu'er tea has obvious medicinal effect."Compendium of Materia Medica Supplements" written by Zhao Xuemin in the Qing Dynasty said: "Pu'er tea has a unique fragrance, it is the first in sobering up, digestion and disease, clearing the stomach and promoting body fluid, especially powerful." Yunnan Pu'er tea has a long history and is famous all over the world.Pu'er tea appeared as a proper noun, which began in Ming Xie Zhaozhe's "Dian Lue" with "All Pu'er tea is used by scholars and common people". Because the raw materials of dark tea are relatively thick and old, and the accumulation and fermentation time in the manufacturing process is usually long. Under normal circumstances, 12-18 hours in spring and 8-12 hours in summer and autumn, the leaves are oily black or dark brown, so it is called black tea. Tea. Dark tea is mainly used by ethnic minorities in the frontier, so it is also called edge tea. Black hair tea is the main raw material for pressing various pressed teas. The necessities of daily life, there is a saying that "it is better to go without food for a day than tea for a day". Due to the differences in production areas and craftsmanship, black tea includes Hunan dark tea, Hubei old green tea, Sichuan border tea and Yunnan Gui Black tea is divided into black tea. Among them, Yunnan dark tea is made of Dianqing Mao tea after tidal retting and fermentation, and is collectively called Pu-erh tea. Pu-erh loose tea is a variety of black tea with a unique mellow aroma. Black Tea is mainly sold in borders, part of it is sold domestically, and a small amount is sold overseas.

1.Liubao Tea Liubao Tea is produced in Liubao Mountain in the northwest of Cangwu County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.Cangwu County is located at 23°27' north latitude of the Tropic of Cancer, with strong solar radiation, high temperature and abundant rainfall. The annual average temperature is 21.2°C and the average annual precipitation is 1500.7 mm. In Liubao mountainous area, the temperature is lower, it is cool and humid, and the soil is relatively fertile. The tea trees are tall, with a plant height of several meters, and the leaves are large and soft.The production is divided into fresh leaves withering, rolling, chopping, stacking, drying and other processes.The characteristic of this tea is the "steaming" method. The tea leaves that are about to be dried are graded and steamed in large wooden barrels, and then spread into special square-bottomed round-shaped bamboo baskets. They are put into warehouses to dry naturally, and finally stored for one or two months. Aging is the finished product.

Its soup is red and thick, the taste is rich and mellow, and it contains the aroma of betel nut, which has a unique flavor.The tea has the effects of clearing away heat and nourishing the lungs, eliminating stagnation and accumulation.In 1983, Liubao Tea won the Quality Product Award from the Ministry of Commerce. In the Qing Dynasty, the production and sales of Pu'er tea flourished, and the reputation was well-known. "Dianhai Yuheng Zhi" stated: "The name of Pu'er tea is more important than the world, and hundreds of thousands of people come to the mountains to make tea. profit road. "Ruan Fu's "Pu'er Tea Story" also said: "Pu'er tea is famous all over the world, and its taste is the strongest, especially in the capital. ""In February, the pistils are very thin and called the tip of the hair, and they are used as a tribute. After the tribute, the folks are allowed to sell tea. "" "Plucked and steamed to make tea cakes, those whose leaves are few and still tender are called bud tea; those picked from March and April are called Xiaoman tea; those who are round are called daughter tea, and daughter tea is picked by women before the rain. That is, Siliang round tea. "

In fact, what is known as Pu'er tea in history was originally a large-leaf sun-dried green tea produced in southern Yunnan.Later, with the development of trade and processing technology, today's Pu'er tea was gradually formed.The tea won the title of provincial high-quality product twice in 1986 and 1989.At present, in addition to domestic sales, the products are exported to Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, France and more than 10 countries.Pu'er tea is especially loved by compatriots in Hong Kong and Macau, and it is one of the most popular tea categories I sell to Hong Kong and Macau.

3.Hunan dark tea The production of Hunan dark tea has a history of more than 400 years, and it originated in the late 16th century and the early years of Ming Wanli.The early Hunan dark tea production was mainly concentrated in Anhua, and now it has expanded to Taojiang, Yuanjiang, Hanshou, Ningxiang, Yiyang and Linxiang. The production of Hunan Heimao tea is made through five processes: greening, initial kneading, fermenting for coloring, re-kneading, and drying.Generally divided into four grades, high-grade tea is more tender, and low-grade tea is thicker and older.The first-grade tea is tightly rolled, round and straight, the leaves are tender, and the color is black and lustrous.

The second-grade rope is still tight, and the color is dark brown and still moist.The third-grade tea is not tight, it is loach strips, and its color is pure bamboo leaf green with purple oil color or willow green color.The fourth-grade tea leaves are relatively wide, thick and old, with loose, flat and wrinkled cords, and a yellowish-brown color.The inner quality of Hunan black hair tea requires a mellow aroma, with a pine aroma, no rough taste, orange-yellow soup color, and yellow-brown leaf bottom.The pressed tea made from Hunan black hair tea includes black brick tea and flower brick tea produced by Baishaxi tea factory, special Fu brick tea produced by Yiyang tea factory, and Xiangjian tea produced by Anhua tea factory.Mainly sold to Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and other places. 4.Black brick tea Black brick tea is named because it uses black hair tea as raw material, its color is black and lustrous, and the finished product is like bricks.Now it is exclusively produced by Hunan Baishaxi Tea Factory.Its raw materials are selected from high-quality black hair tea produced by tea factories in Anhua, Taojiang, Yiyang, Hanshou, Ningxiang and other counties.Since the early 1970s, the Baisha Tea Factory has reformed the labor-intensive and time-consuming process. According to the original ratio of noodle tea and inner tea, it is assembled at one time and pressed at one time.When making, the raw materials are sieved and shaped, air-selected and cleaned, and blended according to proportion; when machine-pressed, they are steamed and sterilized by high temperature, then shaped by high pressure, inspected and trimmed, slowly dried, and packaged into finished brick tea.Each piece weighs 2 kilograms and is in the shape of a rectangular brick, 35 centimeters long, 18.5 centimeters wide and 3.5 centimeters thick.The brick surface is flat and smooth, with sharp edges and corners; the aroma of tea leaves is pure, the soup color is yellowish red and slightly brown, and the taste is strong and mellow.This product is a semi-fermented tea, which removes the green grass gas in the fresh leaves, and makes the brick body firm, so it is not easy to be affected by moisture and mildew. Sugar drink. Anhua County, Hunan Province has a long history of producing black tea. As early as the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Household Affairs officially designated it as the "official tea" for the transportation and sales of tea in the northwest region. The tea horse department set up in various places can easily receive "tea Yin" with gold coins. According to the regulations of Ming Dynasty Tea Classification: 5,000 catties for upward quotations, 4,000 catties for medium quotations, and 3,000 catties for downward quotations. To Anhua, a large number of black tea bricks were purchased According to the distribution of tea and horses in the northwestern region: the tea horses established in the 22nd year of Ming Hongwu are divided into upper, middle and lower grades: one hundred and twenty catties per horse for high-grade horses, seventy catties per horse for medium-grade horses, and seventy catties per horse for low-grade horses. The horses are fifty catties each.Most of them are transported to Lanzhou and resold in Shanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Xining, Ningxia and Tibetan minority areas.In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, nine out of ten "Bian Tea" in Northwest China were supplied by Anhua Dark Tea, most of which were pressed into tea bricks in Jingyang, Shaanxi. In 1939, the Hunan Provincial Tea Management Office set up a factory in Anhua County to produce black brick tea in large quantities. In 1947, Anhua Tea Company set up a factory in Jiangnan Town. The word "eight" was printed on the surface of the tea bricks, which was called "eight-character tea bricks", and the supply exceeded demand.After the founding of New China, the former Baishaxi Tea Factory of Anhua Brick Tea Factory, a Chinese tea company, actively expanded its production.