This article is originally written by White Tea Classroom and may not be reproduced by anyone and the media without permission
《1》
In life, there is always a group of people.
Although they live around us, when we come into contact with him, they find that he is just a "fossil".
There is breathing and heartbeat, can run and jump, and can communicate with people normally, but his words and deeds will always be the tone of the past.
In the tea circle, there are many such people.
The first sentence of the speech was: "I think of the beginning..."
Over and over again, they are talking about more than a decade ago, or even the last century.
Since you are nostalgic for the past, it is better to go back to the past. But the question is, can I go back?
The glory that has been in the past stems from the favorable nature and place at that time, which created the achievements of that time.
Today, however, all the conditions have changed, and no matter how much you dwell on the past, it will not help.
Therefore, we should not always talk about the past.
The person of the past should let him pass, because the past is only suitable for staying in the past.
As some people say: good tea does not press the cake, and the cake is not good tea.
For now, the saying that high-quality white tea does not press the cake has long been a thing of the past.
《2》
Friends who like white tea will eventually return to a problem:
Which is better, loose tea or cake tea? What is the difference between the two?
In fact, whether it is loose tea or cake tea, the biggest difference lies in the form, and in essence, they all belong to white tea.
Loose tea, as the name suggests, is white tea that exists in a loose state.
When they are picked from the tea tree, they are withered and dried by a simple process, and they are preserved in their original appearance after they are finished.
In other words, loose tea is the most natural and relaxed state of white tea.
Cake tea, on the basis of white tea loose tea, is processed again.
After steaming, kneading, pressing and drying, the white tea has changed from the original state of buds and roots into a rounded tea cake.
Nowadays, with the advancement of production technology, there are not only round cake-shaped, but also square brick-shaped, as well as a variety of forms.
When white tea was just revived, the first contact with it was loose tea.
When this concept was deeply rooted, the popularity of white tea cakes made many people appear to be rejected.
Some people believe that white tea cakes will destroy nutrients, so good tea is usually reluctant to use to press cakes, and only the remaining scraps will be made into tea cakes.
However, the fact is that today's mature cake pressing technology has caused very little loss to the nutrition of tea.
The real high-quality white tea cake must not only have good raw materials, but also have experienced tea makers.
Based on past experience, judge which time period to choose to press the cake.
Different weather, different temperatures and humidity, different cake pressers, different techniques, will affect the taste and aroma of the cake.
After good aging in the later stage, it will become more and more fragrant, and the flavor is no less than that of loose tea.
But there are also people who say that white silver needles rarely press the cake, how do you explain?
It is undeniable that in the past there were fewer silver needle presses.
The reason was that the production of silver needles at that time was too low.
In the time period of 2016-2017, not many people knew about white tea, and even fewer people knew white silver needles and liked white silver needles.
Affected by market demand, tea farmers naturally dare not pick too much.
Otherwise, if you don't sell too much, wouldn't it be a waste of time and manpower?
Based on this situation, the production of white silver needles and even loose tea is pitifully small, so what about a large number of pressed cakes?
Moreover, pressing cakes also requires machinery and equipment, and it also costs money.
Invisibly, the cost of silver needle cakes increased.
However, in the case that the market is not yet clear, tea farmers do not dare to act on their own, coupled with the small size of the white silver needle, which does not occupy space, which leads to the past white silver needle mostly in the form of loose tea.
But today is different.
More and more people began to recognize and like the white silver needle, and its production also increased slightly.
The increase in production, followed by the question of storage, how to compress the storage space of the white silver needle? - Pressing the cake.
Everyone was also pleasantly surprised to find that the white tea pressed into a cake shape showed two completely different flavors from loose tea!
More mellow, more plump, and has a different taste.
《3》
The process of making white tea cakes has experienced breaking the wall.
The general principle is that the cell wall of the body part of the tea leaves is cracked after being affected by balanced gravity, so that the internal cell fluid is released and attached to the leaf surface.
These cell fluids become the natural binder between leaves and leaves.
At the same time, the cell fluid is able to exchange substances with weak oxygen, giving rise to a more mature taste.
By the way, the mysterious "jujube fragrance" in the old white tea is the aroma produced after the cake is pressed and fermented through the wall.
From experience, jujube fragrance often appears in good quality shoumei cakes.
Of course, freshly made white tea cakes don't get smelled by us right away.
But after a few years, after the precipitation and aging of the endoplasm, we can clearly feel the sweet smell similar to steamed red date cake.
Therefore, jujube fragrance.
Because the loose tea does not break the wall, the cells are kept relatively intact, and the aroma is still dominated by the fragrance of milli fragrance, floral fragrance, medicinal fragrance and so on.
As the saying goes, turnip greens have their own love.
Zhang San likes gentle and virtuous introverted girls, Li Si likes warm and cheerful extroverted girls, different people, with different eyes and hobbies.
The same is true for loose tea and cake tea.
The characteristics of loose tea are fresh, fresh and ethereal, the soup color is relatively shallow, and the soup water is thick and smoother.
The characteristics of cake tea are majestic, calm, and rich, the soup color is relatively yellow, and the taste in the soup water is heavier.
Although the national standard says that fresh, fragrant, mellow and refreshing are the standard of high-quality white tea.
In contrast to this, it is obvious that loose tea has the upper hand.
But compared to the "small fresh" style of loose tea, cake tea is more in line with most people's tastes.
Especially accustomed to drinking strong tea, the taste buds have become accustomed to heavy taste of tea guests, drink can not understand the freshness in loose tea, the taste full of theanine, and think of it as "light".
In contrast, the cake tea has a ripe aroma and taste due to the broken wall.
Therefore, newcomers tend to have a better feeling for white tea cakes.
《4》
Tea leaves have been pressing cakes since ancient times.
Originally, the cake was pressed for transportation, and now the cake is more for collection.
With the reputation of white tea as "one year tea, three years of medicine, seven years of treasure", it has gradually spread, and more and more people have begun to buy white tea in large quantities.
However, the storage space of tea in the home is limited, and there is more than enough and insufficient strength.
A tea friend once said, "I bought your family's white peony for 4 consecutive years, but this year there is really no place to put it, I can only wait and see, and I dare not start." ”
After understanding, I learned that this tea friend bought white peony loose tea.
As we all know, white tea with leaves such as white peony and shoumei is relatively fluffy in volume.
If you want to stock up a lot, you will need a large enough storage space.
But as an ordinary tea guest, storing tea is purely a hobby, but in order to have old white tea to drink in the future, how can it be a professional warehouse?
In this way, the advantages of white tea cakes are highlighted.
White tea is pressed into a cake, which can greatly reduce the pressure on inventory.
For example, if you use a carton of the same size to pack Shoumei, loose tea is only about 15 pounds in a box, while cake tea has a full 60 cakes, equivalent to about 42 pounds.
The gap between the two was instantly widened.
Therefore, we recommend that tea lovers with limited family storage space should mainly collect cake tea and try to make enough space.
Then according to their own ability, consider collecting an appropriate amount of loose tea as appropriate.
《5》
Day by day, the times are evolving.
Many people in the past have also changed.
There are disappointments, and there are also refreshing sensations.
What was previously considered unacceptable is now much more understood and easier.
Just like good tea does not press the cake, if this sentence is placed in the past, it is estimated that many people will agree.
But now, anyone who has really drunk a good white tea cake will not agree.
Loose tea and cake tea, there is no distinction between superior and inferior.
Just like in this world, there can be different beauty, respect differences, and understand individuality.
In the tea circle, I also hope that a hundred flowers will bloom.
If the taste of each tea tends to be similar and similar everywhere, how boring will it be to drink tea?
It is hard to imagine, such a day, lackluster.
Welcome to pay attention to the [White Tea Classroom] to learn more about white tea knowledge!
Copyright notice: This article is originally written by taimumagu in the white tea classroom, and shall not be reproduced by any media without permission, and tea friends are welcome to forward to the circle of friends!