What does it mean to ride fire tea?

Riding fire tea refers to a kind of tea name, which was collected before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The fame of Qihuo Tea mainly comes from solar terms. During the summer (or lunar) winter to the next 105 days, Tomb-Sweeping Day does not light a fire to cook for one or two days, which is called the Cold Food Festival. However, by Qingming, the fire was rekindled. Because the harvest time spanned cold food and Qingming fire, it was called "odd fire tea". After the winter solstice (105) and before the arrival of Tomb-Sweeping Day, the ancients did not make a fire for three days, but only ate cold food, so it was called the "Cold Food Festival". On Qingming Day, they will drill wood for fire again.

Wei Zhuang, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote: "A cold food can make thousands of trees and snow, and a clear fire can make thousands of cigarettes." In order to restore the weather of "a thousand cigarettes from a fire". So "tea before fire" actually refers to "tea before tomorrow". The tea made from the tea leaves picked in Tomb-Sweeping Day a few days ago is called "riding fire tea" because it crosses the cold food and the Qingming fire. Shen Tao, a native of the Qing Dynasty, wrote in Volume III of Jiao Cuixuan's Notes: "It is best to ride fire tea, not in front of the fire or behind it, so it is also. Qingming changed to fire, so I rode fire tea. "

Characteristics of riding fire tea

Qingming, when everything grows clean and bright, the beneficial components in the tea collected here have reached the peak. "before the fire, it is tender, and after the fire, it is best to ride the fire." Compared with the new tea before Ming dynasty, riding fire tea has more tea flavor. Therefore, tea leaves are picked after cold food and fried in Qingming (or fried across Qingming and cold food). The tea leaves during this period are called riding fire tea.

Tea before fire is generally fresh and refreshing, and the taste of tea is slightly light, but it has passed Qingming. With the increase of temperature, the growth rate of tea leaves is accelerated, and tea leaves are easier to age and feel astringent; During the Qingming period, it is just the balance point between the freshness and freshness of tea, which is one of the reasons why riding fire tea is so popular. Therefore, the finished riding fire tea has pleasant aroma, richer taste, lasting charm and very foam resistance. Compared with the new tea before the Ming Dynasty, riding fire tea tastes heavier.