"Mingqian tea is as valuable as gold." For tea lovers, drinking a cup of this year’s new tea may be the real beginning of the year. Simple, clear and elegant, green tea has been a favorite of Chinese tea drinkers for hundreds of years with its characteristics. Even now, the green tea in the glass wakes up, rises and releases like a dance in the water, which is still a pleasure for tea drinkers.
Green and quiet, the beauty in tea
Mingqian tea is the new tea picked before Qingming. It has thin buds and tender leaves, is green and fragrant, and has a delicious taste. It can be called the "beauty in tea" . The beauty of Mingqian tea lies in color, shape and taste. Before the Ming Dynasty, Biluochun was silvery and green, Longjing was flat and smooth, and Huangshan Maofeng was shaped like a sparrow's tongue. When brewing, only the mist was visible, and the tea leaves floated, stretched, and bloomed into blue clouds in various shapes in the cup. The fragrance of tea before the Ming Dynasty was even more superior. People in the Qing Dynasty praised "the true tea. It has a sweet fragrance like orchid, quiet but not bitter. It is light and tasteless when you sip it. After drinking it, you feel a breath of peace lingering between your teeth and cheeks." , this tasteless taste or even taste."
The Mingqian tea that is often referred to mainly refers to the spring tea in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, such as the well-known traditional teas West Lake Longjing, Biluochun and Huangshan Maofeng. Longjing tea has the reputation of green color, rich aroma, sweet taste and beautiful shape. The Longjing tea produced in various places in the West Lake Mountain Area has different growing conditions, and the natural quality and frying techniques are slightly different, forming different quality styles. There are three categories: lion, dragon and plum. The quality of Shifeng Longjing is the best. "The appearance is thin, flat and slightly curly, shaped like a bird's tongue covered with silver cents, the soup is clear with apricot yellow, and the aroma is long-lasting like white orchid" is how people describe Huangshan Maofeng. It is understood that Huangshan Maofeng is picked delicately. The picking standards for special Huangshan Maofeng are one bud and one leaf. The picking standards for Grade 1-3 Huangshan Maofeng are one bud and one leaf, one bud and two leaves. One bud. One or two leaves; one bud and two or three leaves have just unfolded. Biluochun was listed as a tribute as early as the late Tang and early Song Dynasties. The yield of more than 100 tea trees is less than one catty, and the yield is very small. The more white hairs, the better the quality of the tea. Mingqian tea leaves are the smallest and hairiest.
Taste the fragrance carefully and gradually develop a Zen mind
Tasting tea is about tasting the taste, and more importantly, the state of mind when tasting the tea. People who love and understand tea are not only pursuing the best tea, but also enjoying the peace of mind brought by the fragrance of tea. The Mingqian tea in the white jade porcelain cup is as fragrant as a green pool, as warm and moist as jade, tranquil and pure, with an extraordinary artistic conception. Observe its pure heart, smell its tranquility, and when you taste it, you will gradually feel Zen. Good tea should be like this.
Mingqian tea needs to be tasted slowly, carefully and quietly in order to drink its color, fragrance and appreciate the beauty of the tea ceremony. Making a good pot of Mingqian tea is an art and a state of mind cultivation. Mingqian tea is good, and it needs to be accompanied by famous springs. When it comes to water, the water temperature should be controlled when brewing Mingqian tea. Water between 75 degrees Celsius and 85 degrees Celsius is suitable. Zhang Dafu of the Ming Dynasty said in "Plum Blossom Cottage Bi Tan": "The nature of tea must come from water. If you use 80% tea and 10% water, you will get 10% tea. If you use 10% tea with 80% water, you will get only 80% tea." "There are sayings in history that "Longjing tea is like tiger running water" and "tea from Mengding Mountain is like water from the heart of Yangtze River". Today's tea drinkers can only envy them. In addition, the amount of tea must be carefully controlled, whether it is bitter or tasteless.
West Lake Longjing Lin Daiyu’s private tea
Daiyu smiled slightly and said, "Bring me my Longjing tea and make a bowl of it for the second master. The second master is studying now." , can't compare to the head." - Chapter 82 of "A Dream of Red Mansions"
Daiyu was born in the south of the Yangtze River and likes to drink green tea, and is also fond of Longjing. Longjing tea is perhaps the most well-known of China's famous teas. When people mention West Lake, they will naturally think of Longjing tea. Emperor Qianlong came to Hangzhou for the third time and named the 18 tea trees in front of Hu Gong Temple as "Imperial Tea", hence the saying "18 Imperial Tea Trees". Even though it is not an imperial tea tree, the top tea from West Lake Longjing sold for a sky-high price of 180,000 yuan per catty at the pre-sale bazaar this year. It is truly a luxury item among teas.
Appearance: Flat and smooth, tall and sharp, uniform and neat, green and vivid color, generally less than 3 cm long, buds and leaves evenly formed into flowers, without pedicles or fragments, small and exquisite.
Origin: West Lake, Hangzhou
Soup color: clear and bright is preferred, followed by dark yellow color
Aroma: pure and tender fragrance, mellow and long-lasting
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Dongting Biluochun Gong Zizhen’s inscription on tea
“The tea of ??Biluochun from Dongting Mountain is the best in the world, which was unknown to the ancients. Modern people only know about Longjing, and Biluochun is also unknown.”
Biluochun has always been favored by celebrities, intellectuals and poets. Gong Zizhen visited Dongshan to meet friends for tea many times during his lifetime. In the section "Kuaiji Tea" in the ninth volume of this collection, he talked about Biluochun from Dongting Mountain in Dongting. If you come to Dongting Mountain during the Qingming Festival, you must taste the most precious Biluochun "Ming Dynasty". Tea before”. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi greatly admired this famous tea with green tea color and curls like a snail, and named it "Biluochun", also known as "Dongting Biluochun".
Appearance: The silver buds are exposed, one bud and one leaf. The total length of the tea leaves is about 1.5 cm. The teeth are white and curled. The leaves are curled and clear green. The bottom of the leaves is young, uniform and bright.
Origin: Dongting Mountain, Taihu Lake, Suzhou
Soup color: green and clear
Aroma: long aftertaste, refreshing
Lu'an Guapian is sought after by rich households The tribute tea
The famous mountains in the world must produce spiritual herbs. The ground south of the Yangtze River is warm, so it is suitable for tea. The area north of the river is called Liu'an.
Lu'an tea has been used as a tribute throughout the ages, especially in the Ming Dynasty. It has the effect of clearing the stomach and digesting food, which is probably suitable for people who indulge in alcohol and meat. When making tea with Lu'an melon slices, the mist evaporates and the fragrance overflows. Li Bai praised it as "the water in the Yangtze River, the tea on the top of the mountains", and is also known as "the melon slices in the clouds and mist all over the mountains". Lu'an requires 10 days before and after "Grain Rain" to select slightly stronger and younger leaves from tea branches, and use "pieces" to win. It is the only piece of tea in my country's green tea that removes the stems and buds.
Appearance: A single leaf is flat and even, with rolled leaf edges and no buds. It looks like a melon seed and has a bright green color.
Origin: Liu'an, Anhui
Soup color: clear and green, clear and bright
Aroma: fresh, long-lasting and long-lasting
Huangshan Maofeng Elegant and gentle high mountain tea
"In front of the tableware without tablets, she offered a cup of Huangshan Maofeng. Everyone knew who she was honoring and what she meant by this sacrifice. Everyone just I looked for Tianzui in the crowd, but he was nowhere to be seen."
"There is Jiamu in the South", which won the 5th Mao Dun Literature Award, is a novel that reflects tea culture and is based in Hangzhou, the capital of green tea. This book tells the story of the ups and downs of a romantic and elegant tea merchant in the south of the Yangtze River in the late Qing Dynasty. The book also mentions Huangshan Maofeng. Huangshan Maofeng belongs to the famous tea of ??the Qing Dynasty. It was created by Xie Yutai Tea House during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. It was mined in the Grain Rain period of Qingming every year. Because the newly made tea leaves are covered with white hair and the buds are sharp and awny, the tea was named Huangshan Maofeng.
Appearance: It looks like a bird's tongue, green with yellowing, oily and shiny color, silver hair exposed, tip buds nestled tightly in the leaves, and with golden fish leaves (commonly known as gold flakes).
Origin: Huangshan, Anhui
Soup color: clear and slightly yellow, with vibrant yellow-green leaves at the bottom
Aroma: fresh, thick and mellow, with a long lasting flavor
Five questions about Mingqian tea
Where does "Mingqian tea" come from?
Many people generally believe that Mingqian tea is the tea picked and made during the Qingming Festival. In fact, it is not the case. Mingqian tea is the name given to spring tea in different stages according to solar terms in the Jiangnan tea area of ??the Yangtze River Basin in my country, which mainly includes Zhejiang (Weibo), Hunan, Jiangxi, southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu and southern Hubei. The main categories of Mingqian tea are green tea and a small amount of black tea. However, Mingqian tea does not exist in Tieguanyin, Dahongpao, Pu'er, etc.
The distribution of tea-producing areas in China can be divided into Southwest Tea Area (including Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan), South China Tea Area (including Guangdong, Guangxi (Weibo), Fujian, Taiwan, Hainan) based on climate differences etc.), Jiangbei Tea Area (including Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu (Weibo), Shandong and other provinces and northern Anhui, Northern Jiangsu, Northern Hubei and other places), Jiangnan Tea Area. Among them, Jiangnan Tea Area is the main tea-producing area in my country, with annual output accounting for about 2/3 of the country's total output. Some traditional Chinese famous teas, such as West Lake Longjing, Dongting Biluochun, and Huangshan Maofeng, are produced in this area.
From this perspective, consumers can easily identify Mingqian tea. The main production area of ??Mingqian tea is the Jiangnan tea area. Although spring tea from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan and other regions is harvested before Qingming Festival, it cannot be called Mingqian tea. Because most of the Southwest Tea Area and South China Tea Area are located in southern China, the temperature rises early in spring. Tea picking often starts during the traditional Chinese Spring Festival every year. By the Qingming Festival, tea leaves have been picked for nearly two months. Due to climate reasons, Jiangbei tea areas such as Henan and Shandong often start harvesting after the Qingming Festival, so there is no such thing as Mingqian tea.
In the same way, "tea before the rain" refers to the tea leaves picked after the Qingming Festival and before the Grain Rain in the Jiangnan tea area.
"Mingqian tea" is expensive, why is it so expensive?
Rare things are more valuable: In the Jiangnan tea area, because the temperature is generally low before Qingming, tea trees usually only start to sprout at the "Spring Equinox" and tea picking starts before "Qingming". Due to the limited number of germination and slow growth rate, the yield that can meet the picking standards is very small. Usually a very skilled tea picker can only pick half a catty of fresh leaves a day. It takes 4 pounds of fresh leaves to make 1 pound of dry tea. Finally, it is screened and refined. It has been verified that there are usually more than 60,000 buds per kilogram of dry tea. Things are rare and valuable, so the value of "Mingqian Tea" is reflected.
Rich in nutrients: In the Jiangnan tea area, tea trees remain dormant for a long time in winter. After the tea season is completed in spring, tea farmers are mainly busy with the management of tea gardens, including pruning, fertilizing and grassing the tea gardens. During the long winter, the nutrients in the tea tree have been fully accumulated. In addition, the temperature in early spring is low, and the tea tree grows slowly. Therefore, the number of buds is large, the buds are dense, the buds are strong, the tenderness is good, and the leaves are thick. In addition, the tea leaves of this period are rich in content, with high water extract content and high chlorophyll content, especially the high chlorophyll A content. Therefore, the green tea produced has a green color and the roots stand upright after brewing. Good looking, with great visual effects. Furthermore, the content of amino acids is higher than that of late-stage tea, and the content of some volatile components with a refreshing or ripe chestnut aroma is higher, while the content of tea polyphenols with a bitter and astringent taste is relatively low, making the tea have a high entrance aroma and a mellow taste.
Healthy and pollution-free: the temperature before Qingming is low, there is generally no harm from pests and diseases, no need to use pesticides, and tea leaves are pollution-free. Therefore, spring tea, especially early spring tea, is often the highest quality green tea of ??the year. Good. Therefore, many high-end famous teas, such as West Lake Longjing, Dongting Biluochun, Huangshan Maofeng, Lushan Yunwu, etc., are all picked in the early stage of spring tea, especially the tea picked in the Ming Dynasty, which is the best among famous teas and has become highly praised by tea lovers. 's "favorite".
How to choose "Mingqian tea"
As an ordinary consumer, if you want to buy authentic and high-quality Mingqian tea, Xiaofang has three tips.
First of all, you must go to a branded and well-known tea house to buy, because brand stores have a good reputation and will not easily bear the risks of counterfeiting.
Secondly, pay attention to the place of origin of the tea. For example, only green tea and some black teas can have Mingqian tea, and only Zhejiang, Hunan, Jiangxi, southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu, and southern Hubei can have Mingqian tea.
Finally, if you are a tea drinker who has a basic understanding of tea tasting, you must sit down and taste it when buying Mingqian tea. Before brewing the tea, look at the shape, color and aroma of the tea. The leaves of spring tea are generally tightly wrapped, plump and thick, and some have more hairs. They are fresh in color and have a rich and fresh aroma. After brewing, you can further judge by smelling, tasting and looking at the bottom of the leaves. When new tea is brewed, the tea leaves sink quickly, the aroma is strong and lasting, and the taste is mellow; the green tea soup is green with a yellowish color, and the black tea soup is red with a golden ring; the tea base is soft and thick, and there are many normal buds and leaves. In terms of taste, Mingqian tea must be very soft and not very bitter.
How to brew "Mingqian tea" is very particular
Drinking spring tea does not mean the newer the better. It is best not to drink the freshly roasted Mingqian tea right away. Let it sit for a week or two first and it will taste better. New tea generally has a "fire" flavor. If you brew it immediately, your throat will be dry after drinking it, and the taste will not be delicious. In addition, there is still moisture remaining in the newly fried tea leaves, which is not conducive to preservation. After proper storage, not only can the "fire" smell be removed, but the moisture content of dry tea can also be reduced.
Do not use boiling water for brewing Mingqian tea. Since Mingqian tea is relatively delicate, the temperature is generally around 80 degrees. The tenderer and greener the tea leaves, the lower the brewing water temperature, so that the brewed tea soup can be green and bright, with a fresh and refreshing taste, and the nutrients in the tea leaves will not be easily destroyed. As we usually say, the water temperature is high and the tea leaves are "cooked". It is best to pour the boiling water into a cup first, and then pour it into the tea cup for brewing, so that the water temperature can be easily controlled. As for the Biluochun tea before Ming Dynasty, you should rinse it with water first and then add the tea.
It is best to use a glass cup for brewing. Mingqian tea not only requires green soup, fresh taste, and fragrant aroma, but also requires a beautiful shape. The dry tea of ??Longjing tea should be flat, straight, and straight. Biluochun tea The shape of the tea should be "curled into a snail". After brewing, the buds and leaves of the tea slowly unfold in the glass and float up and down, which is also a special enjoyment.
What is the difference between "Mingqian tea" and "Yuqian tea"?
In recent years, people have a preference when buying tea, that is, to buy the earliest and tenderest tea leaves, or even only those made from single buds. In fact, this is not the case. The younger the high-quality tea leaves, the better. Bud tea made by picking young and tiny single tea buds is indeed beautiful in appearance, but in terms of the richness of the content, it is not as rich as one bud or two leaves. Take Longjing tea, which has a long history, as an example. The raw material of its special tea is one bud and one two leaves, and single buds are never picked as raw materials.
The society praises "Mingqian Tea" because its abstract concept is greater than its practical value, and its aesthetic significance is greater than its drinking value. The vanity of tea drinkers plays an important role in this. Because the quantity of "Mingqian tea" is small and precious, being able to drink it is often a symbol of status and taste.
In fact, although "Yuqian tea" is not as tender as "Mingqian tea", due to the high temperature at this time, the buds and leaves grow relatively quickly, and the accumulated contents are also richer, so "Yuqian tea" is not as tender as "Mingqian tea". "Qiancha" often has a fresh and strong taste and is durable for brewing. The tea picked during this period is neither early nor late, which is the right quality. It captures the essence of the season and the essence of the season, so it is good tea.
Furthermore, due to the influence of climate, varieties and cultivation and management conditions of tea trees, the harvesting time of tea leaves is inconsistent every year. Generally speaking, it is always delayed gradually from south to north, and the mining time difference between the north and the south is 3-4 months. In addition, even in the same tea area or even the same tea garden, due to differences in altitude and water and fertilizer management, the picking time may differ by 5-20 days. Therefore, when buying tea, you cannot judge the quality of the tea solely by the season when the tea leaves are picked. Tea gardens with high temperatures may have been harvested 2-3 times before the Qingming Festival, but some areas with higher altitudes and tea gardens in the north have not been mined even once after the Qingming Festival. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to judge the quality of tea simply based on the time of picking?
"Mingqian tea" is early, tender and beautiful; "Yuqian tea" is delicious and flavorful. What consumers pursue is different.