A tea six angua slices that empress dowager Cixi once gave birth to the Tongzhi Emperor can only enjoy 14 taels a month, and "Dream of the Red Chamber" mentions that it has as many as 80 tea six angua slices, which is one of the top ten famous teas in China. It comes from the small city of Lu'an in Anhui.
Zhan Chong Village, Dushan Town, Lu'an City, is the core production area of Liu'an Gua tablets and the origin protection area! Each century-old tree here grows at a high altitude where the forest covers 80% of the area, and the entire tea producing area is surrounded by the famous Xianghongdian Reservoir, and the evaporated water of the reservoir ensures the humidity and temperature required for the growth of tea plants! As a result, the six melon slices produced here have a good taste and full of aroma!
The origin of Liu'an Gua slices is Zhan Chong Tea Garden. Happy childhood spent here!
Every tea tree here has a long age!
An ancient tea tree that has survived little
Grandma is 83 years old this year, has been living in this pristine village, so old can also go up the mountain to pick tea! I have to say that good mountains and good water are the foundation of health!
Grandma said she came to our house when she was 12 years old, and when she came to our house, the camellia trees she saw today were already like this when she was 12 years old, and nothing has changed!
Tea trees because they need to be pruned every year, so the ancient tea trees here are not as tall as the ancient trees in Yunnan (yunnan ancient tea trees belong to the tree type is able to grow very tall, liuan gua piece tea trees belong to the shrub type tea trees, there is no trunk, the growth is not high, plus annual pruning, so you see this is it) The advantage of the ancient trees is that the root system is developed, can absorb more underground minerals, and form more kinds of amino acids, making the tea aroma more sufficient and the taste better!
The 83-year-old grandmother looks very energetic!
The most complex processes
Liu'an gua slices are described by Sanlian Life Weekly as the most complex green tea in production, and in 2008 this unique production process was successfully applied for as "intangible cultural heritage". Most green tea stir-frying methods are stir-fried in direct contact with the hand and tea. This is not the case with the method of stir-frying the six-angua slices
When the six melon slices are stir-fried, the temperature of the tea pot must reach about 150 ° C, and only at this temperature can the unique aroma of the six angua slices be fried - chestnut flavor. Clever masters have their way, the hand in the pot will burn, they borrow a broom to replace the hand flip stir-fry, to ensure the aroma of the tea, but also to avoid burns!
2015 Gold Award winner Lin Ruchuan carefully made the fresh leaves picked on the day!
Video loading...
Only by reborn in flames can we cultivate the golden eye of fire
The unique stir-frying method is just a prelude to the six-angua slice making process. The baking method of melon slices is to determine its taste, the aroma is the most critical place, after the end of the frying, it needs to go through three parts of baking to complete, the first step: pull the hair fire, the second step: pull the small fire, the third step: pull the old fire, one step is indispensable, missing one. The taste of the melon slices will be greatly reduced.
Especially in the process of pulling the old fire, the scene is quite spectacular! With eighteen bricks around the size of the area of the fire dragon, the inside erected with about 50cm high chestnut carbon, after lighting, the flame is more than a foot high, by two experienced tea masters carrying a diameter of 1.5 meters of extra large baking basket, such a large bamboo basket about 30 pounds, bamboo basket and then put about 30 pounds of tea, put on the charcoal fire to bake, a few seconds later must be lifted down, otherwise the tea leaves will be scorched, after lifting down the flip need to be immediately put on the baking again.
Each cage of tea needs to be baked more than 150 times, the place where the tea is baked must be sealed, to ensure that there is no wind blowing, otherwise the bamboo basket will be burned, when pulling the old fire, the master is required to lift the basket fast, turn the tea evenly, the pace should be stable, and people who have not done physical work cannot eat this kind of suffering!
Half a day later, the tea master is equivalent to walking more than a dozen miles without stopping!
This is the charcoal fire used when baking the six angua slices, and the charcoal weighs more than 100 pounds! The flame is more than 1 meter high
In 2015, the Dabie Mountain Famous Tea Traditional Craft Making Competition was held in Shucheng County, Lu'an City, and the second and third uncles themselves participated in the competition with fresh leaves picked from the tea trees handed down from their ancestors, and successfully won the gold medal, affirming the tacit understanding of the brothers in making Liu'an Gua slices for many years and the production together for many years!
How long can handmade melon slices be drunk?
The production of handmade melon slices has been declining in recent years, less than 10% of the market share! Pure handmade six melon slices, color treasure green, shaped like melon seeds, strips like twist-like curls, rich aroma, mellow taste, excellent sweetness! Such six melon slices can only be stir-fried by a skilled tea master.
With most of the young people going to the city to develop, there are no young people learning this ancient tea making process anymore! So handmade melon slices may be drowned in a short time in the future!
If you can drink a cup of handmade six-angua slices and remember its unique taste, you may never have the opportunity to drink it again!
Single leaves do not contain buds, do not contain stems, the color is green, moist and refreshing!
If you want to taste an authentic cup of Anhui tea, please pay attention to our headline number!