China is the hometown of tea. Tea originated in China. The earliest legend about tea in historical documents appears in China's first drug monograph "Shennong Bencao Jing": "Shennong tastes hundreds of herbs, and encounters 72 poisons a day, and gets tea (tea) and can be cured." The history of Chinese people drinking tea can be traced back to Qin. Gu Yanwu wrote in " Rizhilu ": "Since the Qin people took Shu, there was a thing of drinking tea."
In my country, there are many kinds of tea, and there are very big differences between the various types. According to the degree of oxidation of tea polyphenols during tea processing, it is divided into six major tea categories. There are many varieties of flowers and colors in each tea category, and each has its own characteristics in terms of color, fragrance, shape and taste of tea quality. These six major tea categories are green tea, yellow tea , white tea , green tea (oolong tea), black tea and black tea. Let's explain them one by one below.
green tea
green tea is non-fermented tea.
that is, tea green fresh leaves should be picked and the enzyme activity should be suppressed in time and high temperature passivation should be used to inhibit the enzyme activity. After the process of rolling, drying, etc., the characteristics of green tea "clear soup and green leaves" are nurtured.
Generally high-quality green tea, most of which are made of fresh leaves of middle-leaf and small-leaf tea trees. has rich amino acid content, but the content of tea polyphenols is much lower than that of large-leaf tea. This is reflected in the quality of green tea. It has a relatively high freshness, is relatively mellow and has no bitterness.
green tea has the best quality and summer tea has the worst quality. Because the content of tea polyphenols during spring tea is much lower than that of summer tea, the content of amino acids is the highest in the whole year, and the quality of spring tea and tea flavor of green tea is the best.
green tea high mountain tea has better tea flavor quality than flat tea tea, and is mostly reflected in the green mountains, high relative humidity, less sunshine time, tea trees are moistened by fog and dew, grow slowly, have strong tenderness, and tea leaves have particularly high amino acid content. Therefore, the tea leaves produced in the mountains are excellent.
such as West Lake Longjing , Dongting Biluochun, Huangshan Maofeng , Xinyang Maojian , etc., all of which are familiar to people.
West Lake Longjing
West Lake Longjing has a history of more than 1,200 years. The name "West Lake Longjing" began in the Song Dynasty, was heard in the Yuan Dynasty, promoted in the Ming Dynasty, and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. Su Dongpo also wrote the sentence " Two flags under Baiyun Peak are new, green and fresh Grain Rain Spring " to praise West Lake Longjing Tea.
Longjing tea has a flat appearance, smooth and straight color, a tender and shiny color, a fresh and clear aroma, a fresh and sweet taste, and a delicate and delicate bottom of the leaves. This is its characteristic.
Longjing tea is a typical fried green tea. The tea green is stir-fried at high temperature and has a high aroma and a stir-fried bean aroma. This fragrance is very recognizable, and there will be a clear cereal fragrance when smelling the tea base. People who like the high fragrance and cheerfulness are the most popular.
Dongting Biluochun
Biluochun is produced in the areas of Dongting Mountain and West Dongting Mountain (now Wuzhong District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province) in Taihu Lake in Wuxian City, Jiangsu Province, so it is also called "Dongting Biluochun".
Biluochun was listed as a tribute in Tang Dynasty , and has a history of more than 1,000 years. The first local folk called Dongting Tea, also known as scary tea. During the Kangxi period, Kangxi tasted this famous tea with green and curly soup when inspecting it. It was very praised, but it felt that it was "scared and fragrant" and its name was indecent, so it was titled "Bi Luochun".
Xinyang Maojian
Xinyang Maojian is also known as Yumaofeng, which belongs to the green tea category. It is one of the top ten famous teas in China and one of the famous specialties in Henan Province.
main origins are Xinyang City Xianhe District (formerly Xinyang City ), Pingqiao District (formerly Xinyang County) and Luoshan County. Created by Han tea farmers. In the early years of the Republic of China, the five major tea houses in Xinyang Tea District produced high-quality Benshan Maojian tea, which was officially named "Xinyang Maojian". As a traditional famous tea, Xinyang Maojian Tea has a unique style of "fine, round, bright, straight, white hair, high fragrance, strong taste, and green soup".
"Tea Classic" written by Lu Yu lists Xinyang as one of the eight largest tea producing areas in the country; Su Shi, a great writer of the Song Dynasty, praised him after trying famous teas: "Huainan tea is the best in Xinyang." In 1915, Maojian of Xinyang crossed the ocean and participated in the Panama World Expo, winning the gold medal in one fell swoop;
white tea
white tea is a micro-fermented tea.
The process of white tea is simple and close to natural. It is neither fried nor kneaded nor finished, and it is mainly withered and dry. White tea has not been finished, so the tea polyphenols will be converted to produce new substances, bringing a smooth and mellow soup feeling. It has less irritation to the stomach than tea that has been finished, especially aged white tea, which is warm and peaceful.
White tea is famous for its complete tea buds, calm shape, uneven white, fresh aroma, light tea soup, sweet and mellow taste, and long-lasting and durable brewing.
According to the different raw material picking standards and different tea tree varieties, white tea is divided into four categories, namely white black silver needle , white peony, Gongmei and Shoumei.
yellow tea
yellow tea is a lightly fermented tea.
treatment of yellow tea is similar to green tea, but the yellowing process needs to be added after finishing the brinding and rolling. The tea leaves are affected by damp heat, and automatically oxidize and turn yellow, and in the future, it will give birth to the quality characteristics of "Huangye Huang Tang".
The quality characteristics of yellow tea are "three yellows", (yellow color, yellow soup, yellow leaves). The dominant force that constitutes the quality of yellow tea lies in the heating effect. First of all, the effect of damp and heat, which causes a series of oxidation and hydrolysis of the quality components, resulting in the production of yellow leaves, yellow soup and mellow taste of the endogenous substance. The other is dry heat. The dry heat effect is mainly the development of the aroma of yellow tea.
yellow tea is represented by Mengding Huangbu and Junshan Yinming ,
Mengding Huangbu
Mengding Huangbu, is one of the bud-shaped yellow teas, produced in Mengding Mountain, Ya'an City, Sichuan Province.
Mengding tea cultivation began in History , and has a history of two thousand years. In ancient times, tributes were used for emperors of all dynasties. After the founding of New China, was rated as one of the top ten famous teas in the country. The yellow bud on the top has a flat and straight shape, the bud strips are even, the color is tender and yellow, the buds are exposed, the fragrance of flowers is long, the soup is yellow and bright, the taste is fresh and mellow, and the taste is sweet and fresh. The buds on the bottom of the leaves are tender and yellow
Junshan Silver Needle
Junshan Silver Needle is produced in Junshan in Dongting Lake, Yueyang, Hunan. It is as thin as a needle, so it is called Junshan Silver Needle.
Junshan silver needle dried tea buds are strong, with uniform length and size. The inner surface of the tea buds is golden yellow, the outer white hair is completely exposed, and the wrap is solid. The shape of the tea buds looks like silver needles, elegantly known as "gold-inlaid jade".
Oolong tea
Oolong tea, which belongs to semi-fermented tea.
Oolong tea has a sweet and strong taste and a rich qi. It has neither the bitterness of green tea nor the astringency of black tea. It is harmonious but not cold, and the taste will be mellow for a long time. In addition, oolong tea has the color of "green leaves and red stripes" or "three reds and seven greens", high-quality oolong tea pays attention to the "spicy" of taste, such as the "mountain rhyme" of Phoenix Dancong , the "rock rhyme" of Wuyi Rock Tea, and the "guanyin rhyme" of Tieguanyin , etc.
Oolong tea is a semi-fermented tea, which combines the characteristics of the initial preparation of red and green tea. Its strong fragrance and fresh aftertaste are inferior to other teas. If distinguished from the origin, there are the Oolong in southern Fujian, the Oolong in northern Fujian, the Oolong in western Fujian, the Oolong in Guangdong and the Oolong in Taiwan.
Northern Fujian Oolong has Wuyi Rock Tea, cinnamon , Dahongpao and other Wuyi Rock Tea. The representative of Wulong in western Fujian is the Narcissus in Zhangping; the most famous of Wulong in Guangdong is Phoenix Dancong. The representatives of Taiwan’s misunderstanding are the misunderstandings, etc.
Wuyi Rock Tea
Wuyi Rock Tea is a traditional Chinese famous tea, and is an oolong tea with the quality characteristics of rock rhyme (rock bone flower fragrance).
is produced in Wuyi Mountain in northern Fujian, the "Southeast of Xiujia" area of Fujian Province. Tea trees grow in the cracks of rocks, with the fragrance of green tea and the sweetness of black tea. It is the best among Chinese oolong tea.
Phoenix Single Cong
Phoenix Single Cong Tea, a specialty of Chao'an District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, was approved as a national geographical indication product in China in 2010.
Phoenix Dancong Tea is produced in Phoenix Town , and is named after Phoenix Mountain. According to legend, in the late 2nd year of the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Song fled through Wukang Mountain and was thirsty. The mountain people offered red tea soup. After drinking it, they produced saliva and quenched thirst. They gave it the name "Song Tea", which later generations called "Song Crop".
finished tea has thick strips, uniform and straight, yellow-brown color, oily and shiny, and has cinnabar red dots; the brewing fragrance lasts for a long time, the taste is rich and mellow, refreshing, and refreshing, moistening the throat and sweetening, with a unique mountain charm.
Tieguanyin
"Tieguanyin" is not only a tea name, but also a tea tree variety name. It is one of the top ten famous teas in China and is produced in Xiping Town, Anxi County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province.
Tieguanyin tea is between green tea and black tea and belongs to semi-fermented tea. Tieguanyin has a unique "Guanyin rhyme", which has a clear and elegant aroma. After brewing, it has a natural orchid fragrance, with a pure and strong taste, rich and lasting aroma, and is known as "seven bubbles have lingering fragrance".
black tea
black tea, belongs to fully fermented tea.
The full fermentation of black tea brings "sweetness" is its characteristic. During the fermentation process, the tea polyphenols in the tea will change drastically, producing new ingredients of theaflavin and thealucin . Therefore, black tea is characterized by fresh, sweet and mellow soup color and bright orange.
Black tea in terms of color, aroma, form and taste, the characteristics of black tea include dry tea black and red soup, red leaves, etc.
For tea tree varieties that produce black tea, most of them are those with higher content of tea polyphenols. The content of tea polyphenols in large-leaf tea trees is generally more than 30%, so it is suitable for making black tea, such as Yunnan large-leaf tea and Hainan large-leaf tea. The black tea produced can be compared with the black tea produced by the Assam tea tree varieties in Sri Lanka.
The main types of black tea in my country are: Zhengshan Xiaozhong , Qihong, Yunnan red , Jinjunmei , Sichuan red, Rizhao black tea, etc. Among them, Jin Junmei is a representative of high-end black tea, which is processed with full buds and is expensive.
Zhengshan Xiaozhong
Zhengshan Xiaozhong is the earliest black tea in the world, also known as the originator of black tea. It has a history of more than 400 years. It was created by local tea farmers in the depths of Wuyi Mountain in Fujian under the middle and late opportunities of the Ming Dynasty .
Zhengshan small seeds are divided into tobacco and smokeless species in production process. The basis for distinguishing whether they are made of pine needles or pine firewood. There are more obvious differences in tea produced by these two different production processes.
Qimen black tea
Qimen black tea, abbreviated as Qihong, is a famous Chinese historical tea and black tea fine. During the Guangxu period, it was created by Anhui tea farmers, and produced Qimen, Anhui Province, from to , Guichi (now Chizhou City ), Shitai , Yixian and Fuliang in Jiangxi and other places.
"Qi Hong is the most famous and has a great reputation and a great fragrance." Qi Men black tea is a top black tea and has long been famous. It is the favorite drink of the Queen of England and the royal family. It has a high reputation and is well-known and famous. It is known as the "Fang Fang" and "Queen of Black Tea".
The shape of the strips is as tight as eyebrows, the seedlings are beautiful and the color is black; the tea leaves are fragrant and long, if they are like orchids, the International Tea City specially calls this fragrance "Qimen fragrance".
Dianhong
Dianhong is mainly produced in Lincang, Baoshan , Fengqing , Xishuangbanna , Dehong and other places in the southern and southwest of Yunnan Province.
The production of Dianhong uses excellent Yunnan large-leaf tea tree fresh leaves, and is first made into a finished tea through withering, kneading, cutting, fermenting, baking and other processes.
has specific specifications for each appearance, the body bones are solid, the color is evenly mixed, the soup color is bright and bright after brewing, the gold circle is prominent, the fragrance is fresh and refreshing, the taste is strong, and the leaves are full of red and bright.
black tea
black tea belongs to post-fermented tea.
The production process usually includes four processes: finishing, rolling, pile-up and drying.It is worth mentioning that Wodui has never been seen in other tea species, and Wodui is a key link in the formation of black tea quality. Wodui means stacking tea leaves in a humid and hot environment to promote physical and chemical changes in the tea leaves. This is a unique craft of black tea.
Long-term high temperature and high humidity processing technology will not only cause drastic changes in the substances contained in tea, but will also cause more drastic changes due to the influence of a large number of microorganisms . Therefore, the content of certain flavor substances of black tea , such as tea polyphenols, amino acids, caffeine , sugars and vitamin has been greatly reduced, especially the oxidation and polymerization of tea polyphenols, which shows a bitter taste and ester catechins, which significantly reduce the bitter taste and astringency of the tea soup, making the black tea mellow and not astringent.
is supplemented with microorganisms on this basis. Finished black tea can continue to ferment when it is well preserved. It is also the reason why the older the black tea is, the better.
represents tea: Anhua black tea , Hubei Laobian tea, Sichuan Tibetan tea, Guangxi Liubao tea, Yunnan Shupu.
Anhua Black Tea
Anhua Black Tea is a specialty of Anhua County, Yiyang City, Hunan Province. It implemented geographical indication product protection in 2010 and was selected into the Chinese agricultural brand catalog in 2019. Anhua black tea is the ancestor of China's black tea. It is recorded as "Qujiang Thin Flakes" in historical materials in the Tang Dynasty (856) and was listed as a court tribute. Anhua black tea was officially created in the third year of Jiajing (1524).
Anhua black tea, the tea soup is transparent and clean, and the leaf bottom is light and fresh. The aroma is rich and clear, long-lasting and distant, and the tea fragrance is mixed with medicinal fruit vanilla wood fragrance.
bao tea
Liubao tea is a specialty of Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It became a national geographical indication product in China in 2011. Liubao Teacin is known for its four supernatural powers: red, thick, old and mellow. The strings are long, tight and tight, the soup is red and thick, the aroma is thick, and the taste is sweet and mellow. Orthodox should have the flavor of pine smoke and betel nut, and the bottom of the leaves is copper-brown.
The validity period of six types of tea and the three principles for storing
tea: avoid light, moisture-proof, and odor-proof
green tea | Drink it quickly, if you can't finish it, you must seal it (very important!), and store it in the refrigerator refrigerator;
white tea | One year tea, three years of medicine, seven years of treasure. Sealed and preserved at room temperature, avoid light and moisture;
yellow tea | Same green tea, sealed in refrigerator and refrigerated;
green tea | Sealed and preserved at room temperature, avoid light and moisture and moisture;
black tea | Sealed and preserved at room temperature, avoid light and moisture and moisture;
black tea | Save at room temperature, avoid light and moisture and moisture and prevent high temperature/cold, and regularly ventilate between storage
·Reference: Wan Xiaochun, edited by "Tea Biochemistry", China Agricultural Press ; 3rd edition | "Tea Chemistry" Gu Qian (Editor), University of Science and Technology Press; 1st edition | "Chinese Tea Classic" Chen Zongmao (Editor), Yang Yajun , Shanghai Culture Publishing House ; 1st edition
