In fact, I don’t know how to start. After mentioning and elaborating too much about this leaf, I don’t know where to start.
The history of the 150-year-old Huangshan Maofeng can be traced back to the Guangxu period. In the land of Caoxi, Xie Zhengan twisted a handful of leaves with pekoe. At that time, he was not thinking about the top ten famous teas. He was just selling the tea to Shanghai for money to support his family.
Why Huangshan
Everyone who has been there knows that that place is soaked in fog for two hundred days a year.
If the tea tree grows in such a place, it will be very difficult not to be weak. I can't help but think that those buds and leaves, which are shrouded in clouds and nourished by dew every day, may be like the girl in the old house in Huizhou. Her skin is so white that it can shine through, and she will blush even if she is touched lightly.
Tea picking should be done before the Qingming Festival.
Before the dew dries, we have to rush up the mountain. My mother once said that when picking tea, you should not use your nails to pinch the leaves, because once you pinch out the leaves with your nails, the leaves will have a so-called "anger", and the correct way is to break them with your fingertips. To this day, I still haven’t figured out what anger is, but I always feel that there is something else profound in these words.
Beautiful looking tea leaves
There are indeed advantages.
Look at it, a leaf is connected to a bud, and the edges are curled, just like a sparrow's tongue. The most wonderful thing is undoubtedly the "golden piece", which is the little bit of yellow on the bottom of the leaf. It is said that these are fish leaves, which are the accumulated strength of last winter and are all supplied to the new sprouts at the beginning of spring this year.
It has to be soaked in a glass cup.
I saw it slowly unfolding in the water, standing upright, and then sinking. One or two pieces are floating, and most are lying down. This kind of picture has a more healing effect than any Zen-like photography. The color of the tea soup is light yellow-green, so clear that you can see the fine hairs at the bottom of the cup. This is called "Hai Hun", which is a sign of good tea and is not something unclean.
How do you describe that taste?
Does it smell like orchids? Yes, everyone says it smells like orchids. However, I feel more like walking through a piece of green grass after the rain. When my feet step on it, the grass juice splashes up and exudes the fishy sweet fragrance. Not as elegant, but very real.
About drinking tea
Nowadays, drinking coffee in the office has become popular. It is dark in color and the bitter feeling will last for a long time after taking a sip. As for me, I actually prefer the act of soaking my hair.
It’s not because of some cultural inheritance, it’s just that I just feel——
Look, the 80-degree hot water poured down, and the leaves that had been curled up all winter suddenly came to life. Slowly stretch your body in the water, turn it, and finally stand calmly at the bottom of the cup. It's as if the mountain shrouded in clouds and mist has been squeezed tenaciously into the palm of your hand.
After drinking this cup, the busy traffic outside seems to be relieved.
If someone drinks Keemun black tea, they will laugh at me and claim that green tea is cold in nature and will hurt the stomach. I know that. My stomach is indeed a little weak. However, there are some things that even if you clearly know that it is not so "appropriate", you still find it difficult to let go. Maybe this is obsession.
Huangshan Maofeng now
Nothing has changed, nothing has changed.
There is a sign called Xie Yuda, which is still there. Its production line has been automated for a long time. I heard that there is a so-called digital traceability system. Just by scanning the code, you can know which tree the leaf was picked from. It is really quite magical.
Anything that requires manual operation must be done with both hands. The temperature that needs to be controlled when finishing, the strength that should be used when kneading, and the heat that needs to be mastered during the baking process, the sense of proportion hidden in the palm of the master's hand is simply difficult for a machine to learn.
I heard that it won the award again this year, and that brand has a valuation of more than 5 billion. A figure like five billion is too far away from Xie Zhengan who is rolling tea leaves by the Caoxi River. It was so far away that one doubted whether what they were talking about and what I was drinking were the same kind of stuff.
In fact, you don’t have to think so much about drinking tea.
Don’t worry about the top ten famous teas or centuries-old history.
Just remember one thing:
Find an afternoon when you are exhausted to the extreme, boil a pot of water, not the kind that is extremely boiling and boiling, and wait for it to cool down a little. Grab a handful of tea leaves and drop them into the glass, watching the water slowly turn green. Then, without thinking about anything else, just take a sip.
If you feel comfortable at that moment, then it is good tea.
If you don't feel it, try another drink.
It was written that the water was cold again.
I have to boil another pot.
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