When you find that there are no flowers in the Hengzhou jasmine tea you bought, will you be puzzled, or even wonder if it has added flavor?
Why does Hengzhou jasmine tea only smell the fragrance of flowers but not flowers? The answer to this question should be found in the production skills of jasmine tea.
The floral fragrance is added to the tea to benefit the tea taste
During the Song Dynasty, there was a craze for introducing incense into tea in China, and jasmine was "encountered" with tea from that time, and jasmine tea flourished.
The traditional Hengzhou jasmine tea is based on green tea, which generally has to go through: tea embryo, flower spelling, stacking, flowering, closing, flowering, baking, cooling, turning, jacquard, even stacking, packing and other more than ten processes. Among them, the flower is the key process to inject soul into jasmine tea.
The flower is to stack the tea leaves and flowers layer by layer, cover them repeatedly, and then fully mix them and then pile them up and let them stand. The first time to stand for about 12-14 hours, during which it is necessary to regularly dissipate heat (stir) to promote the continuous fragrance of the flowers and allow the tea to fully absorb the aroma and essence of jasmine.
Flowering is carried out immediately after the kiln is completed, and the flowers are separated from the tea. At this time, the tea leaves absorb the floral fragrance and water, and the jasmine flowers can be sieved after completing their mission. The remaining tea leaves go into the roasting process to reduce the moisture.
The last kiln is to maintain the purity of the jasmine aroma in the tea leaves, and no longer re-roast, the so-called "jacquard". Therefore, Hengzhou jasmine tea has the saying of "three kilns and one mention", "five kilns and one mention", and "seven kilns and one mention".
In 2012, Hengzhou jasmine tea was selected as the fourth batch of autonomous region-level intangible cultural heritage list for its unique production skills.
Hengzhou Jasmine Small Class
(1) Why do you have to remove jasmine?
The tea has a strong adsorption power, and the floral aroma has been fully absorbed in the process of kilning.
If it is not sifted cleanly, the flowers will rot in the tea leaves, which will seriously affect the quality of the tea leaves.
Even if the flowers do not rot, they will not increase the fragrance at all, but will make the tea soup have a bitter feeling.
(2) How to choose jasmine for tea?
When picking, choose the bud that is ready to be released, and the fragrance at this time is still locked in the flower.
After picking and squirting with the tea leaves, the jasmine will gradually bloom.
As the buds bloom, the aroma also peaks and is then fully absorbed by the tea leaves.
(3) When is the best time to pick jasmine?
Jasmine loves heat, and the hotter it is, the more fragrant it is.
The best time to pick flowers is at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun is "most toxic", and the high temperature makes the concentration of essential oils in jasmine buds reach a peak, so that the flowers picked are more fragrant and of better quality.
Image source: Network comprehensive collation
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