Gansu canned tea

Gansu canned tea

Ancient Northwest tea, rustic delicacies in the fields

Canned tea is a traditional refreshment diet in most rural areas and townships in the northwest region, especially in the hedong region of Gansu, the northwest region of Shaanxi, the southeast region of Ningxia and parts of Xinjiang in Qinghai.

The origin of canned tea

As for when there was a canned tea, how many years of history, how it flowed into the northwest, so far there has been no literature recorded, it may be the Silk Road, the Tea Horse Ancient Road flowed through, or it may be the ancient population migration inflow, there is no way to verify. I can only start with my grandfather's grandparents (I'm 40 years old). A hundred years ago, our northwest side did not produce tea (except for the south of Shaanxi), the long winter could not eat vegetables (green leafy vegetables), the three large pieces were there (radish potato tofu) people were yellow and thin, drinking tea was to supplement the body, only began to drink tea, as to yes or no, just hearsay, can not be examined. There are two types of tea for drinking canned tea, one is brick tea (belonging to the black tea category, post-fermented tea), one is green tea (unfermented tea), southern Ningxia in northern Shaanxi and Qingyang Pingliang in Gansu and Qinghai and other places also use brick tea to boil canned tea, but now use green tea.

Utensils and methods for canned tea

Before the eighties of last century, generally still use clay clay pots, iron is very few, only the officials and nobles can have, the general people can only use clay pottery to boil pots and cans of tea, after the eighties to the present, with the development of industry, the emergence of iron aluminum, stainless steel, glass and so on. Tea pots also have the size, generally small about 100 ml, large three or four hundred ml also have, some places also use health pots to boil and drink.

In the past, pots and cans of tea were generally boiled, generally using earth stoves or stoves, and the most important thing in the vast rural areas of the northwest was firewood, fire rack stoves, and slowly there were coal blocks, anthracite coal, coke, and now many are electric stoves, induction cookers, electric pottery stoves, etc

Boil cans of tea, boiled with brick tea, also boiled with green tea, some with red dates, goji berries, guiyuan, followed by some rock sugar. Boiled with poria brick tea, the tea soup is more mushy and deeper, much more viscous than the general flax rapeseed oil. However, there are fewer teas boiled with brick tea now, and now more green tea is generally used. It can also be boiled in cold water and also in hot water. Boiled alone only with tea leaves, boiled tea soup is slightly deeper than the brew, bitter taste is heavier, there is also astringency, if you increase the jujube, guiyuan, goji berries, rock sugar taste is not the same, but when boiling guiyuan to pinch, jujube is best baked.

Tea leaves of jars of tea

In the northwest, there are two kinds of tea leaves for boiling pot tea, one is brick tea, one is green tea, and the brick tea belongs to the category of black tea, which belongs to post-fermentation tea, and now uses more green tea, focusing on green tea.

In the northwest region, especially in Gansu, the tea leaves that boil cans are generally called spring tip tea, clear tea, green tea, raw tea, can tea, Dian green, Mao Feng, etc., different places, different names, in fact, it is a kind of tea, the official name is called large leaf green tea, produced in Yunnan, especially Pu'er City and the surrounding area is the main production area, there are old tree tea, ancient tree tea and Terrace tea, but in the past thirty or forty years, most of the pot tea is Taiwan tea, the advantage is that the yield is high, the tea is relatively tender, and it is also suitable for boiling canned tea. The large-leaf terrace green tea used for boiling canned tea is also divided into many varieties, including No. 10 tea, No. 10 tea, No. 10 tea, and at least twenty or thirty varieties such as YunKang, Snow Bud, Snow Dragon, Pekoe, Puyan, Pujing, Gyokuro, etc. According to the northwest people's taste after the processing process, therefore, outside the northwest region, it is difficult to buy tea that can be boiled cans of tea, such as Longjing, Anji white tea, Xinyang Maojian, Laoshan green tea, etc., for the taste of the northwest people, it is not suitable for boiling, boiling is not good, the northwest dialect is called not right, not right taste.

Production and circulation and trading of canned tea

The northwest canned tea production area is in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province and the surrounding area, and there is almost no tea production from the end of November to the middle of February every year, and there are tea harvesting and processing in other time periods. In terms of quality, spring tea is the best, autumn tea is second, summer tea is last, spring tea has a good aroma, but the leaf buds are relatively small, looking at the broken, autumn tea is better, the fragrance is second only to spring tea, summer tea is good-looking, the taste is general, and the aftertaste is astringent. From the production area and production point of view, good spring tea and autumn tea part of the circulation to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and economically developed areas outside, in the processing of Pu'er tea and black tea, the remaining middle and lower standards in accordance with the taste of the northwest people after processing can be circulated to the northwest region, that is, we drink cans of tea, Gansu Qinghai Ningxia Xinjiang dialect said spring tip tea and clear tea, brewed alone, with eight treasure tea and three bubbles.

We drink cans of tea, from a pound of two or three dollars in the seventies and eighties of the last century to the current pound of twenty or thirty to seven or eight hundred, with the continuous improvement of people's income, the price of tea is also rising, the cost of tea picking tea is also rising, whether it is a full bud tip standard, a single bud, a bud half spread leaf, a bud a small leaf, a bud a leaf, a bud two leaves, a single leaf, two leaves standard, most of them are hand-picked. There are medium and large manufacturers processing, small manufacturers and small workshops of tea farmers. Tea growers include large corporate tea gardens, tea cooperatives (as in previous agricultural cooperatives) and individual tea gardens. In general, the tea quality of large and medium-sized manufacturers is better, some of the small manufacturers are also good, the small workshops are good and bad, from the quality point of view, the regular manufacturers of tea are generally more strict control of pesticide residues, growth agents and additives, but also by the supervision of industrial and commercial food and medicine, generally some of the individual small workshops are not very clear, from the price point of view, the tea price of large factories is higher than that of small factories, and the price of tea in small factories is higher than that of small workshops. Tea quality, subject to the picking of fresh leaves, processing equipment and boiler temperature and tea master's craftsmanship, good and bad, picking the same tea leaves after production produces different phases and tastes.

In recent years, with people's continuous cognition and the development of the Internet and social networking, people slowly began to understand the canned tea, four or five years ago many people thought that canned tea is produced in Gansu Longnan, some people have been drinking for decades, are considered to be Longnan canned tea, with the popularity of the Internet, understand more, buy tea more convenient. Especially in the vast rural areas, summer tea and poor quality tea and pesticide residues exceed the standard of tea exceeding the standard of tea, first of all, sell well, followed by the price is cheap, for the people, affordable, for the business of selling tea is easier to make money, so far (2020), in the rural market a pound of 20 to 40 is still more, accounting for the mainstream of sales, for the general people, they do not understand what is pesticide residues, what is the growth agent, etc., feel that the economy is on the line.

Before the eighties of the last century, belonging to the era of planned economy, tea and tobacco and alcohol, belong to heavy taxes, production and purchase and sales need to open a single batch of strips, even transportation has to go through many checkpoints, tea circulation is not as developed as it is now, there are logistics and express delivery, now from the production area to the hands of consumers, fast is two or three days slow or so a week. The previous tea is subject to the influence of the processing process, the color is relatively dark, the pressing is relatively tight, when boiling cans of tea, you need to heat the jar first, overheat the tea or bake it to boil and drink, with the current production process to improve, the tea is not only beautiful in appearance, the aroma is better. In the past, tea was transported in sacks or cloth bags and canvas bags, transported from Yunnan to Gansu, either damp or crushed. Now the popularity of cartons and plastic bags, generally will not appear damp mold and crushing situation, generally a large box of 6 kg to 15 kg of boxes shipped. Before 2010, logistics is not very developed time, generally from Pu'er first transport to Lanzhou, in the distribution and transportation to Linxia Sanjia ji Tianshui's North Dao District and Qinghai Ningxia and other places, Lanzhou's Xiaoxihu Railway Station East Lake and Jingang City is a large trading circulation market at that time, with the development of Lanzhou urban area, tea is generally from Yunnan Pu'er directly to Tianshui and Linxia Sanjiaji and various prefectures and counties, in recent years, especially in Gansu Lanzhou market Spring Tip, part of the Transfer from Linxia Sanjiaji or from Tianshui.

The plot of the can of tea

Speaking of the northwest can tea, belongs to the niche tea drink, compared with the country's top ten famous tea, it is still very far away, people outside the great northwest study the tea ceremony, and as our natives grew up in the Loess Plateau, can tea seems to be somewhat rough, not elegant, but there is also a certain exquisite, generation after generation of inheritance so far, has changed in form, but there is one thing that has never changed, that is, the etiquette of drinking tea. For the former peasants (before the reform and opening up), drinking cans of tea is a luxury, not only expensive, but also lacking, only the eldest elders in the family or people with great age and high moral standing can enjoy this way of drinking tea, every New Year's Festival, married women and sons-in-law send, apprentices to the master, nephews to uncles, relatives and fathers to send, township officials to the leader, villagers to the branch secretary, as well as to the management of family planning, in short, to send cans of tea is only for respectful people, Only those who are respected can deserve cans of tea. With the development of reform and opening up for decades, today's life is much better than in the past, but with the elderly rural families, this tradition has not changed.

Northwestern people seem to be rough and bold, but when drinking cans of tea, they also pay attention to small sips of tea Slow step by step, need a quiet and comfortable environment Whether in Kangtou or by the stove, whether sitting or squatting, or hanging in front of the table with the middle hall and plaques at home, the observance of this etiquette is not deliberate, but an unconscious conscious insistence, which is also the charm of drinking canned tea.

Boiling cans of tea can make full use of the nutrients of tea, so the cans of tea have a heavy taste and a bitter taste, novice tea tasting, you can put some rock sugar in the cup, or with jujube Guiyuan Goji berries and so on. Drinking cans of tea is also part of the breakfast, can be roasted on the stove steamed bread (pasta pastries and the like), before drinking tea can first snack a few bites of stomach protection, some people say, drink cans of tea to dissolve greasy, can lose weight, there is no experimental proof, is also hearsay, no way to verify, first eat something, pad the stomach, in the fine tasting of a few cups of canned tea, a full of spirits throughout the day, for people who are accustomed to drinking tea addiction, drinking less than a can of tea, it is simply a kind of torture, the body is like a lack of soul, Every cup of canned tea has life, every cup of canned tea has a story, the elderly always have memories after drinking, a story is told, it is his life and experience, more is the teaching of the younger generation, although the old people do not understand the modern urban life, but the truth of being a person is passed down from generation to generation, the simple family style of the rural people in the Great Northwest, just like this when drinking canned tea, the inheritance is endless, the older generation and the older generation have been in the midst of suffering, but they are still pure and simple in heart, The yearning for a better place, the hardships and difficulties have never crushed them, how determined, this is the plot of the older generation drinking cans of tea.

Ten years ago, in the northwest region, especially in the Dingxi Tianshui Longnan region of Gansu, the first thing a man did after getting up was to drink a pot of tea. Of course, it must be an elderly man to drink, some women are old to drink, generally young people do not drink, even if you want to drink cans of tea, you have to secretly boil a jar of tea behind the back of the old man, two generations face to face to boil cans of tea, in the past it was a disrespectful thing. It's like a child smoking in front of their parents. When the sky is not yet light, the old man began to turn over the kang, began to work on the fire to boil cans of tea, there are also middle-aged men before working in the field to the old man to boil the drink, and then drink themselves, after setting up a fire in the small stove, put the boiling tea can, pour a small amount of water, boil, put in the spring tip tea, there are also roasted dates, guiyuan goji berries, etc. Slowly boiled, put a pot on the side of the stove, also put some steamed buns, add water to the pot, slowly heat up, add to the tea pot once and for all, after boiling, are a small sip of steamed bread to eat and drink. Drinking cans of tea requires patience, as little as thirty or forty minutes, more than an hour, drink refreshed, calm and relaxed. Even if the farm work is busy, a can of tea is indispensable. While burning tea, while smoking, there are dry smoke and shisha, choking smoke and firewood smoke, so that the whole house smoke, generally in the house of boiling cans of tea, the wall skin and roof are due to years of smoke and fire to show black gray, it is also the vicissitudes of the years, drinking tea seems to be a living immortal, smoke in the fog, do not feel panic at all.

In recent years, with the development of the economy, the living conditions in the vast rural areas of the northwest have improved a lot, some have moved from cave dwellings to brick houses, some have moved from earthen houses to concrete structure houses, small villas, some are new rural houses, some have also built courtyards, some have fled the countryside, and settled down in large cities and surrounding counties, but in how to change, the old generation is still there, the new generation is gradually getting old, the inheritance of canned tea is still there, but it is still using more advanced boiling tea, and the smoke of the stove that used to be made is very small Instead, electric stoves, induction cookers, electric ceramic stoves, etc., there are also boiled on the gas stove to drink, convenient and fast.

In addition to drinking in the morning, the canned tea is mainly in the winter and the year after the agricultural leisure, after more than half a year of hard work, in the winter village folks, relatives and friends between the contact feelings, pass the time, enjoy a way of life. Say that contact feelings, mainly because they are idle, good relations, will visit each other, men generally watch TV, listen to the old Qin cavity, while drinking cans of tea, while talking about the mountains, women will pull together home to watch TV, do needlework. Because the drinking of canned tea is more exquisite, slow and rational, just drinking canned tea can be drunk for an hour, you can also drink most of the day, relatives and friends in the drinking cans of tea, you can chat and exchange feelings, so drinking cans of tea is a way to enjoy life. The development of society, the material life has been very rich, the improvement of rural productivity, the original one acre of wheat half a noon labor, with mechanization, half an hour to dry, leisure time brush vibrato, engage in live broadcasting, and so on. But the tradition of drinking cans of tea is still being continued.

And now, with the development of migrant workers, studying for foreign employment and surrounding cities, the pace of life is accelerating, the population in the vast rural areas of the northwest is getting smaller and smaller, the departure of young laborers, the widows and the elderly who remain, it is really a sigh of the changes of the times, the original wife doll hot kangtou, can only get together during the New Year's Festival, walking around relatives, still lack the previous atmosphere, sitting together to play mobile phones to resist the laughter of the previous Kandashan. The previous poverty is gone, the previous laughter is also missing, the previous grandparents always asked you the words are also less, really want to listen to the old people are asking how many acres of wheat, raise a few sheep, cattle under the bullfrog, today the teacher taught you a few words, and now, can not hear such a simple and simple boring question, now can hear the words of the previous generation, how about the grandchildren, buy a house, married, work, when to go home, etc., the older generation of people on the afterlife is just a kind of miss, Can only be in the mind, because not as convenient as now, mobile phone WeChat video, minutes can hear the sound, can see the image, before, write a letter also had to be less than half a month.

And now, there are old, down there are small, every day non-stop work, middle-aged men's suffering who can understand it, the life of the city seems to be glamorous, clean dress, eat OK, eyes closed, thinking about the education of children, the loan of the house and the car, the support of the elderly, the balance of bank cards, the body of fortune, in the absence of a time to cook a pot of tea so comfortable, this may be life, maybe in the outside of the nostalgia.

When I was a child, there was no taste of nostalgia, I thought about poetry and far away, after I grew up and left home, nostalgia was a narrow ticket, I embarked on the ideal of finding a distant place, left the barren yellow land that gave birth to me and raised me, in my bag, there was a small pottery, in the days of a foreign country, accompanied by myself Imagining two acres of yellow land at home, later, homesickness is the years brought me a cup of bitter tea, tea in the mouth, thoughts in the heart, exquisite tea boiling tools replaced the old pottery, delicate fresh tea leaves replaced the earthy fragrance But the simple yellow land that gave birth to me and raised me has always lingered.

Twenty-year-old you, drinking cans of tea, is a ritual

Thirty-year-old you, drinking cans of tea, is youth

Forty-year-old you, drinking cans of tea, is life

Fifty-year-old you, drinking cans of tea, is the taste

Sixty-year-old you, drinking cans of tea, is to enjoy

Seventy-year-old you, drinking cans of tea, is life

Eighty-year-old you, drinking cans of tea, are years

Or rather, how long have you not bought cans of tea?

Twenty or thirty years old, have you ever bought canned tea for your fathers, and have your grandparents ever cooked cans of tea?

Forty or fifty years old, are you still boiling your own, have your children given you cans of tea, and how long have you not been boiling cans of tea for your old parents?

Sixty or seventy years old, are you still making cans of tea? Have the descendants ever sent you cans of tea? Did you cook it for you? Is there still a chance to make cans of tea for the fathers?

Eighty-year-old, can you still cook yourself?

Cans of tea, first bitter and then sweet years of life, the soul of the wanderer, the pot is in, the tea is in, the person is in, the heart is in, the soul is...