During this period, Mount Wuyi was full of fire, and so was tea. Seventy percent of tea was full of fire. The most intuitive feeling is the aroma smelled on the dry tea, with some fire smell inside.
How strong is the fire for brewing tea? It’s not an exaggeration to say that it can spontaneously ignite after being exposed to sunlight for a minute. “” If the fire has reached this level of roasting, should you have prepared to give up on color, aroma, and taste? “” The aroma of brewing tea is suppressed by the fire, and then it will be fine after annealing
Faced with these teas that come to the tea table as soon as they come out of the stove, even those of us who love drinking tea can’t hold on anymore. Without them, it’s a bit too hot. It’s better to wait for them to cool down before drinking, otherwise the tea won’t taste as fragrant!
01 How does fire affect fragrance?
In fact, the shaping of the aroma of rock tea is not only in the process of roasting, but also gradually creates a fragrance universe belonging to the rock bone flower fragrance from the withering step. But in the rhythm of rock tea itself, if we want to keep up with the current “hot topics”, we inevitably have to talk about its fire power.
Each family has formed its own style in controlling the height and duration of roasting temperature. As mentioned in some of our previous articles, there are two distinct styles of fire techniques. The differences in flavor and quality are mainly concentrated in the stimulating aspect, with slow simmering tea on low heat having a richer and softer aroma and taste.
The aroma sources of rock tea mainly include four pathways: glycoside degradation, carotenoid degradation, lipid degradation, and Maillard reaction.
The first three are enzymatic reactions during the initial production process of rock tea, where enzymes are inactivated after high temperatures such as withering and drying. Pyrazine, pyran, and pyrrole, which are produced through the Maillard reaction during roasting and have similar fire and roasting aromas, become the main source of fire aroma.
Rock tea is characterized by alcohol compounds resembling floral and fruity aromas, with the majority of them decreasing in relative content with increasing roasting time, while the relative content of most esters increases.
The substance that expresses the aroma of fire power was not detected during the tea making period, but only appeared in the roasted rock tea, and was directly proportional to the roasting time. The degree of roasting follows a similar logic as time, with an increase in temperature indicating an increase in the aroma of the fire.
Therefore, at this stage, the tea we drink has a fiery and nutty aroma that overwhelms other aromas, and also carries a hint of bitterness. Most of the reason is that the alcohol compounds characterized as fresh floral fragrances further react into ketones and esters under the action of heat. The aroma components characterized by fruity aroma (esters) and bitter ketones have increased, while pyrazine, pyran, and pyrrole, which are continuously generated, dominate.
02 Only with fire can there be fragrance Is it still more fragrant without fire?
The fire of rock tea is almost a lifelong theme. Baking not only stabilizes the quality state, but also removes moisture, impurities, and green flavors. At the same time, through “fire”, the internal substances of tea are fully transformed, allowing rock tea to reach the optimal state of aroma and tea soup taste.
The most popular period for rock tea is probably the period of hairy tea, during which drinking too much tea can easily cause bubbles at the corners of the mouth. However, compared to the mature and stable finished tea, the raw tea, which has not yet been roasted to stabilize its flavor and quality, retains most of its low boiling aroma and has a bold and candid nature.
For example, the aroma of peach, passion fruit, mango, osmanthus with a floral scent, and even the sweet and sticky taste of cold cakes when fried. Faced with this kind of “honesty”, one can feel the freshness brought by the fruity aroma of flowers, as well as the refreshing sensation of a cold throat similar to that brought by cold cakes. During the tea season, there will be a sense of satisfaction from eating and drinking.
The aroma at this stage is not only for appreciation, but also for being “picky”. Its presentation largely determines how the subsequent process uses fire.
Previously, at the Fuzhou Three Tea Tea Party hosted by Xiaowen Family Tea, we chose to use cardamom, a raw tea made with Niulankeng cinnamon, as the opening ceremony. During the period of beef raw tea, there was already a rich flavor presentation, as well as a fruity aroma with a sweet floral flavor, followed by a high-end woody flavor.
At the same time, a crane head beef infused with fire skills was used as a substitute, with a nutty aroma and some cool herbal stimulation, accompanied by creamy cinnamon, creating a high-density sweet taste.
What is the manifestation of the highly recognizable aroma in the raw tea stage after roasting? What if the fire were lighter or heavier?
Sometimes, during the tea making stage, you can feel a hint of something wrong. When roasting, you can make appropriate adjustments to remove any moisture, impurities, or green flavors. But sometimes it can have an overcorrection effect, leaving nothing but fire in the tea when roasted, and drinking it feels like personally putting your mouth into the roasting basket.
However, roasting only adjusts the proportion of flavor and cannot completely change the essence of tea. Anything that does not exist in itself cannot be roasted no matter how much it is roasted. However, some fruity and baked aromatic substances require roasting to stimulate them, which is the essential purpose of roasting. It can not only harmonize the atmosphere but also bring new flavor expressions.
Light Fire Pure Red Robe Soup Color
The degree of fire skill is directly proportional to the prominence of the fire fragrance in the current tea soup. The just right amount of fire skill will not mask the presentation of other aromas, and the balance of aromas is well controlled. Appropriately increasing the ignition power may slightly scald the mouth at present, but it will have a certain degree of restraining effect on the greening of tea leaves in the future.
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Of course, there is also a situation where the aroma is still suppressed by the fire and waiting for “annealing”. Many heartwarming teas encountered at this moment are hindered by their slightly higher fire power, which makes it difficult to come into contact with them frequently. One explanation is what we refer to as “Shanghuo”.
Another reason is that in the current era dominated by the “fire” flavor, the aroma and tea soup have not yet fully integrated, which requires a period of time until the substances with the “fire” flavor gradually consume over time, while other flavor components break free from the suppression of fire. This is the best time for drinking.
If you want to talk about whether there is fragrance only when there is fire, or whether tea becomes more fragrant after annealing, you can just treat this fire as a passing guest, enjoying the strong aroma of fire and experiencing the harmony after annealing.