Baking fire determines the style of tea brewing, and the things related to style are the most topical.
Wuyi Rock Tea has developed to this day, and due to its small workshop style production nature, different tea factories and tea roasting masters have already derived different roasting methods and schools of tea. Just the degree of fire skill has already differentiated into stepped shift styles such as light fire, medium fire, medium foot fire, medium light fire, and foot fire.
Of course, roasting is not only determined by the level of fire skill, but also by the length of time. In the rock tea world, the “Big Fire Fast Baking Sect” and the “Wenhuo Slow Stewing Sect” are two distinct factions that represent the combination of fire skill and time. It’s like the battle between Dugu Jiujian and Taiji Sword Technique, where is the outcome?
No.1 Slow Stewed Pastry with Gentle Heat
The so-called “slow fire” refers to a certain degree of low temperature for a long time, similar to the “stewing” in Chinese cuisine. The purpose of stewing is to further change the moisture content of tea leaves under long-term low temperature, improve the internal quality and shelf life of tea leaves.
There is an interesting contrast in choosing tea leaves that are roasted in a slow and gentle style.
On the one hand, it is suitable for high-quality refined tea, which has already reached a good state in the initial processing stage. In the later stage of roasting, all that needs to be done is to modify it more perfectly to achieve the quality requirements of “orange yellow clear, fragrant and mellow” soup color.
Often, high-quality tea products will have a higher density of fusion between charcoal and tea aroma in the style of slow simmering over low heat, often with floral or fruity aromas, and a sweet and mellow taste.
Using slow simmering Fenglin Laocong over low heat, the soup still has an amber color
Last year, Zhou Jun, the cinnamon champion of the Zhuzi Cup Doucha Competition that we interviewed, is a typical style of slow simmering with gentle heat. Zhou Jun summarized his craft style as “beauty in slow cooking, using slow cooking, etc.
In his opinion, the vitality in green leaves is naturally revealed and matured over a certain period of time and stage. When the vitality is naturally revealed in green leaves, slow simmering over low heat is used to remove it.
In this way, it can not only remove the odor, but also retain the stimulation of caffeine and the fragrance brought by polyphenols. The perfume is balanced and has a certain degree of reduction to the mountain. It is a roasting style with high palatability and balance of tea.
Of course, during this process, it is important to constantly monitor the changes in the tea leaves to prevent the tea leaves from being hollowed out, commonly known as the “duck in the hand flying away”.
The contrast lies in that it is suitable for tea of better quality, but also for tea with insufficient internal quality caused by factors such as mountain fields, tree age, and picking. Usually, when tea contains relatively few substances, it cannot withstand the baptism of high fire power. Therefore, it is best and safest to choose slow and gentle stewing to allow the tea to taste the appropriate fire power.
Cinnamon soup color stewed slowly over low heat
Some experienced tea roasters may believe that the best temperature for slow simmering over low heat is 84-100 degrees Celsius, using fire to adjust the aroma and fire to control the flavor.
No.2 High Fire Fast Baking Pie
Similar to slow simmering with gentle heat, the use of high fire fast baking techniques also involves orientation issues.
One is the use guided by production efficiency. With the development of the Wuyi tea market, the tea planting area, tea production scale, and the expansion of tea market demand, it is necessary to improve the refining efficiency of tea. Especially during the period of Wuyi Tea Factory in the mid to late 20th century, the factory had a large amount of exported tea. Considering production efficiency, transportation, and preservation issues, the factory tended to use high fire fast roasting during tea refining.
For tea products produced in large quantities, high-temperature and fast roasting is sufficient as long as it can remove moisture, impurities, green flavors, bitterness, and other impurities from the tea leaves, and then elevate the aromatic substances in the tea leaves to form flavor compounds that transform into smooth and mellow soup. Baked tea leaves are mellow enough, dry enough, not easily discolored, and suitable for long-term storage.
Next is the choice of forming a special style.
When we interviewed some experienced tea masters and rock tea players about roasting, we had a viewpoint that the compatibility between traditional Mingcong and Zhengyan terroir is very high. The temperament and heritage of these Mingcong are ingrained in their bones, and with just one shot of sufficient fire, they can explode and blend the classic classical elements of these teas together.
Zhuke Beidou
The mineral texture and rock charm are not only strong, but also expressed in a very classical way. In the delicate, thick, and powerful water sensation, there is a fusion of elegant, textured, and mature floral and fruit aromas. “There is serenity, strength, stability, and composure,” Wuyi tea has a light and distant temperament.
With the blessing of such fire power, the tea of that year was enough to be “charcoal mouthed”, and you need to be patient enough to wait. Of course, ‘fire’ is not an ultra-high temperature, but a relatively high temperature that tea leaves can withstand.
From a technical perspective, the reason why slow simmering with low heat is relatively common nowadays is because slow simmering has a high fault tolerance rate. For tea roasters, controlling the temperature and heat is compatible with the technical threshold. And fast roasting with high fire is to control the high temperature in a short period of time to achieve the purpose of removing water and enhancing the aroma of tea leaves.
This requires a master with high tea roasting skills, through rich experience, to teach him how to control the thickness of the covering ash, as well as the interval time and speed of roasting. If there is a slight mistake, it may cause the tea leaves to become empty or “burnt”, resulting in heavy losses.
Furthermore, it is the law of choosing to learn from the strengths and weaknesses of young people.
For example, for some older harvested large tea leaves, the tea leaves have limited internal quality, slow heating, and too low a temperature, making it difficult to fully roast the tea leaves. Moreover, prolonged roasting time can also result in the loss of the tea’s intrinsic substances, making it more prone to “hollowing out”. In this case, it is usually necessary to roast the tea leaves quickly and with high heat according to their initial processing state.
However, the roasting method of high fire and fast roasting is not suitable for making tea that is not fully green and has a high degree of fermentation.
For example, when making tea that is not completely green, there will be a green taste and a strong bitterness in the taste. Because the oxidation and decomposition of amino acids, caffeine, chlorophyll, and other substances in tea leaves are not sufficient, high temperatures can hinder the normal chemical reactions of these substances, blocking the so-called “bitterness” in the tea leaves and exacerbating the bitterness of the tea soup.
There are also some excessively fermented teas with too many red edges and excessive oxidation and decomposition of polyphenolic substances. The content of soluble sugars, alcohols, and aldehydes in tea soup is too high, and high temperature can accelerate the transformation of these substances, making the tea soup have some fermented flavor, which does not meet the tea making standards of rock tea.
Experienced tea roasters will determine the roasting temperature and duration based on the different mountain ranges, tenderness, and initial processing conditions of the tea leaves to achieve the desired tea state.
No.3 Slow Attack with Foot Fire Between the Two
There is another faction between the two major factions: the Foot Fire Slow Attack faction.
They don’t use high heat for quick roasting or slow simmering, but are a type of slow attack tea that falls between the two. They use lower heat for longer periods of time than the high heat type, and lower heat for shorter periods of time than the slow simmering type, but at relatively higher temperatures. Typically, the temperature is between 110-120 degrees Celsius and the roasting time is between 6-8 hours. This style of roasting particularly tests the foundation of the tea itself.
Inner Ghost Cave
Most of the tea in the Zhengyan Mountain in Mount Wuyi grows in rocks, sandy gravel residual soil, and pits and streams. Due to the influence of soil and surrounding ecological environment, the content of polyphenols, amino acids, catechins, etc. in fresh leaves is higher than that in semi rock and Zhou tea producing areas.
Not only can it withstand fire, but the high temperature of sufficient fire can also maximize the transformation of the internal essence of tea leaves, allowing the biochemical reactions of the internal essence in rock tea to be fully transformed into the required aroma and taste characteristics, giving rock tea its unique “rock flavor”.
2019 Zhonghuo Pure Material Niulankeng Old Tree Cinnamon
Adhering to the principle of “existence is reasonable”, each roasting faction has its own role and forms different styles of tea products, which is also a matter of personal opinion.
What temperature, what kind of fire, how long it takes, and what kind of taste it produces… The roasting of rock tea really varies with time and tea. It is a balance and game, an art that tea roasters can master.