Insect tea, that is, insect tea, also known as tea essence, dragon ball tea, insect brewed tea, insect tea, mainly produced in guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi parts, the three places have their own characteristics. Insect tea is a unique forestry resource insect product in China and is a special tea for traditional export.
Insect tea is not a tea drink made from the bud leaves of camellia plants, but the shape resembles bead tea, and the color is like tea after brewing, so it has the name of "tea", in fact, it is "non-tea tea" to drink tea. After the insect tea is brewed, the aroma is overflowing, with the freshness and fragrance of the soil in the field after the rain, and the entrance taste is mellow and full, sweet and fresh, refreshing, and endlessly evocative.
Legend has it that in Chengbu County, Hunan Province, insect tea has been drunk by local ethnic minorities for more than 1,000 years. The nutritional value of insect tea is higher than that of ordinary tea, containing 18 to 19 kinds of amino acids, a certain amount of crude protein, crude fat, sugar, tannins, vitamins and other nutrients, but also contains trace elements needed by the human body, with heat, heat, detoxification, spleen and stomach, digestion and other health care effects. Li Shizhen, a famous medical scientist of the Ming Dynasty, has a special account of insect tea in the "Compendium of Materia Medica". Insect tea can also be stored for a long time, after years of aging, the taste is more mellow, the medicinal properties are better, more gentle.
Insect tea, black-brown, granular, such as the size of a small grain of rice, is made of insects such as the incense moth, rice black worm (rice borer) and other insects after eating the leaves of the fragrant tree, three-leaf begonia, great white solution, tea tree and other plant leaves. The preparation method of insect tea is different from that of general tea. Every year before and after the valley rains, the local people will go up to the mountain, the wild incense tree, three-leaf begonia, large white solution, tea tree and other suitable leaves for insects to collect, (some areas of the leaves need to be processed by steaming and other processes after picking) placed in bamboo baskets or wooden barrels, sprinkled with rice water fermentation, you can attract incense moths and rice black worms and other insects to feed, spawn. When these insects have eaten the leaves of the plant, they excrete many tiny bead-like excrement. People then use a sieve to remove the debris and use the sun to dry it, which is insect tea.
Insect tea according to the place of origin mainly includes Hunan City Bug Tea, Guizhou Red Water Bug Tea, Guangxi Liupao Worm Tea, etc. In general, due to the unique process of using wild leaves and natural insect introduction, the yield of insect tea is also very low under the premise of ensuring that there is no natural pollution. Insect tea in different regions, due to the different leaf tree species and insect species used, is also different in aroma and taste after brewing.
Lao Yang recently had the honor to taste three different years of Chengbu insect tea, and fully experienced the charm of insect tea. Lao Yang personally believes that the aroma and taste of Chengbu insect tea is very close to the aged Liupao tea and pu'er old tea stored for more than 30 years, all of which have Chen xiang, medicinal fragrance and glutinous fragrance, and some people also summarize this aroma and taste as the aroma of the earth. The tea soup is red and clear, the taste is mellow in the mouth, there is obvious raw jin and sweetness, and a line of coolness will be generated from the throat to the chest and abdomen after drinking. The specific personal tasting feelings of the three teas are as follows:
1, 2008 insect tea: with a strong aroma of chen and similar to agarwood aroma, very similar to the aged Liupao tea chen xiang and betel nut incense. Bitter and inconspicuous, slightly salty, raw at the bottom of the tongue, sweet, drinking from the throat to the abdomen there is a sense of coolness. Among the three teas, the worm tea of 2008 has the most old rhyme.
2, 2012 insect tea: there is a strong sticky rice fragrance, in the glutinous rice fragrance also contains medicinal fragrance, Chen xiang, raw jin very fast, the soup feels smooth, the entrance is slightly bitter and slightly salty, but the melting is very fast. The first line of coolness from the throat to the abdomen is very strong, and there is also a cool feeling in the mouth, which is very refreshing, such as containing mint. Among the three insect teas, the coolness in the chest and abdomen is the strongest, and the soup is the smoothest in the mouth.
3, 2017 insect tea: medicinal fragrance contains Chen xiang, there is a hint of fruit and floral fragrance, tea soup is thick red, the entrance is slightly bitter, the taste is mellow and there is no lack of fresh natural breath, and there is sweetness after drinking. Among the three teas, the taste is the thickest and the sweetest is the best.
(Disclaimer: This article is the personal feelings of the author Suzhou Lao Yang and only represents the author's personal views.) Original articles, unauthorized reprints are prohibited. ）
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