丨 This article was originally produced by Xiao Chen Tea
丨 First published in the headline number: Xiao Chen Tea Affair
丨Author: Village Gu Chen
《1》
There are tea friends who come to consult.
I have a white tea at home, it is a white peony in 2018, which has been stored for three or four years Why do you smell myrrh? How many years can it take to produce medicinal incense?
It's a long story.
Tea aroma is the soul of good tea, and the final formation of white tea aroma is affected by many factors.
Including tea varieties, altitude of origin, ecological environment, production year, tea production season, whether to press the cake, withering method, storage conditions, tea storage year, etc., it is difficult to count them one by one.
How many years does white tea last before it can be medicinal? Behind it, there is no definitive answer.
The high-quality alpine white tea, on the new tea of white peony and spring shoumei, can already emit a fresh herbal fragrance.
After the old white tea is stored, whether it is white silver needles, white peonies, or shoumei, all of them will add a melodious and thick medicinal fragrance to the basic tea aroma, which is particularly reassuring.
As for the 2018 white peony that has been stored for 3 years, no trace of medicinal incense has been found.
Well, it is not excluded that there are the following 5 possibilities.
《2》
First, this white peony, not the other white peony.
According to bold speculation, the tree species of this tea is not suitable for white tea at all.
According to the white paper and black characters of the white tea national standard, when making two types of white tea, white needle and white peony, the suitable tree species are large white tea and daffodil tea.
These tea plants have the advantages of strong tenderness and more distribution of new buds and leaves.
The raw materials harvested from the stems of these specific tea varieties can only be used to produce a specific white tea flavor later.
For example, when making squirrel fish, yellow croaker, carp, grass carp are generally selected, if the eel is changed as the material, it becomes four different, even if the same process is copied down, it can not make a unique flavor.
The same is true of the medicinal aroma formation of white tea.
If you choose the wrong material from the source, the tree species is not right. The resulting tea, both in appearance and aroma, is far from real white tea.
In the later period, even if it is stored for three years, four years, five years, or even longer years, it may not be able to save medicinal incense!
《3》
Second, the withering method is improper.
Prolonged withering is the key to forming the characteristic flavor of white tea. The good or bad withering effect has a crucial effect on the aroma of white tea.
In principle, when the fresh leaves of tea are plucked from the tea trees, they need to be transported to the tea factory in batches in time for processing.
Timely spreading, thin drying, it is best to be 70 meters off the ground, with the help of mild daylight, wind and other synergies, jointly promote the loss of internal moisture of white tea, and in this link, the formation of a specific flavor.
If you are not careful at this time, you will lose everything.
For example, the picked tea green is not processed in time, but is stuffed in the tea basket. The bottom green leaves are difficult to breathe and are smothered by thick piles.
For example, when withering, directly lay a piece of cloth on the ground, and spread the tea leaves on the ground, without leaving the ground to dry. In the late spring and early autumn, the temperature is hot at noon, and the ground will heat up, destroying the endoplasm of good tea.
For example, when withering, the fresh leaves of tea green are spread too thickly, the leaves are next to the leaves, and the buds are squeezed with the buds, like the canned sardines, there are many overlaps between each other, affecting the effect of walking water.
For another example, listening to the rumor that white tea is just casually basking, directly putting the tea green under the sun to expose, resulting in sunburn.
In short, any operation error in the process of withering will hurt the aroma and taste substances inside the tea, resulting in serious damage to the color and aroma of good tea!
《4》
Third, when making tea, the drying is not in place.
The process of white tea mainly revolves around withering and drying. When drying treatment, the drying of white tea will face many difficulties.
On the one hand, relying solely on mild sunlight to sunbathe, the water content is impossible to meet the standard. Unless you take it to the sun, the sun, to the end, but this will destroy the quality of the tea.
Therefore, after withering to an appropriate degree, further drying is required.
But on the other hand, different white teas will face many difficulties when drying.
The thick white silver needle of the bud head, from the outside to the inside, the bud head is like a bamboo shoot that can peel off 5-7 layers, peel off one layer, and there is another layer, which is difficult to achieve layer by layer dryness and thorough dryness.
It is easy to dry when drying, the appearance of the bud head drying, but the inside is not dried thoroughly, leaving water vapor and other problems.
White peony, on the other hand, has buds, leaves, and a short tea stem. During the spring tea season, the tea picking time of white peony is immediately after the white silver needle, and the bud head is slightly thinner. The leaves are lustrous, narrow and delicate.
When drying, if the tea maker's technique is not good, it will cause the buds of the white peony to dry, but the young leaves will be scorched.
Or when the leaves are baked just right, the buds are not drying and other difficult problems, which is difficult to take care of.
From the perspective of tea taste performance, drying is too much, too late, will destroy the aroma substances inside the tea leaves.
And the drying is not in place, the overall water content is not up to standard, due to the presence of too much water vapor, it will lead to the later storage, inevitably there will be moisture, deterioration, taste and other conditions, the more the tea aroma is stored, the fainter!
《5》
Fourth, the environment of the congenital production area is poor.
The formation of the medicinal aroma of white tea depends on chance. In addition to the acquired tea processing technology, it is also necessary to look at the innate quality of raw materials and the excellence of the growth environment of tea plants.
Considering the nature of tea plants to like warmth, moisture, and not bright light.
The altitude is moderate, the temperature is suitable, the climate is humid, the clouds are cloudy all year round, the light is mild, the air is fresh, the soil of the tea garden is loose and transparent and rich in nutrients, and it is more suitable for producing white tea with charming aroma.
On the other hand, if it is planted under the mountain, the altitude is low, the environment is poor, and it is next to the main road.
In the mixed air environment, the final tea is difficult to have a pure, pure and clean tea aroma quality.
Or, where tea is planted, the tea trees are densely connected, endless, like planting rice, planted on a flat flat ground, there is no shade from trees around, there is no cloud above the head to block the hot sun, and the surrounding area is not like a natural mountain pass, there are mountain rocks to provide shade and sun protection.
From the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, the tea trees will be sunburned, and the sunlight will fall directly, causing the young leaves of the branches to be sunburned and sunburned, affecting the accumulation of intrinsic flavor substances.
The growth place of the ultra-long sunshine time will make the white tea produced feel bad and the bitter taste is strong. Drink it up, the flavor experience is poor.
Not to mention, the rich and charming tea flavor is charming!
《6》
Fifth, the way of storing tea is wrong.
The white peony, which has been stored for three years and four years, has been initially entered into the threshold of old white tea from the time of tea storage.
(Note, old white tea refers to white tea with a tea age of not less than 3 years.) ）
But at this time, when I opened the package and took out the dry tea and smelled it, I didn't feel the slightest medicinal aroma. It is not excluded that this tea is stored in the wrong way.
For example, directly use a sealed bag to store tea for a long time; unseal the white peony in a tin can of less than half a kilogram and store it for a long time; open the box to take tea after packing the white tea...
By doing so, good tea will run away.
The sealing performance of sealed bags and tin cans is limited, and it is only suitable for short-term temporary storage of tea, and it is not recommended to store white tea for a long time.
Long-term storage of tea, the application of three-layer packaging method, with thick cartons, food grade plastic bags and aluminum bags, the tea leaves are sealed layer by layer, placed in a dry, cool place.
Moreover, do not frequently open the box and flip in the later stage to avoid good tea running gas.
Otherwise, if the sealing effect is poor, the details of the stored tea are careless, which will only make the aroma and taste performance of white tea continue to decline.
The more it exists, the fainter the aroma.
If you want to save the medicinal incense again, it has become a complete luxury!
《7》
How many years does it take for white tea to be medicinal?
Time cannot be one size fits all.
White tea with good production area and exquisite craftsmanship, sitting on the time and place, even in the new tea stage, it can also have a fresh and rich floral fragrance, no fragrance, and some white tea will also have an elegant fresh herbal fragrance.
After a few years have passed, but where the storage conditions of this tea have not changed, its growth trajectory is bound to be more and more melodious, and the more tea tastes more mellow.
After three years and five years, it will emerge thick, calm, and somber, and smell the soothing medicinal fragrance.
For an old white tea, most of the old tea customers pay attention to the taste of drinking tea, requiring the soup to be thick and smooth and full.
If on this basis, coupled with the advantages of deep medicinal fragrance, rich layers, and long-lasting aroma, it is fantastic.
The melodious aroma of tea meets the warm and mellow soup feeling, just like the golden wind and jade dew.
Such a fragrant, watery, and charming tea is enough to win over countless people in the world!
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Xiao chen tea village gu Chen, columnist, tea industry original new media "Xiao Chen tea matter" chief writer, has published a white tea monograph "White Tea Tasting Notes", 2016-2020 has written more than 4,000 original articles.