Brief introduction of silver needle

Silver needle and white hair, also known as white hair, are known as "beauty" and "king" in tea. In recent years, it is often called white hair and silver needle, which belongs to white tea according to the type of tea. It is different from the cake tea made of white tea and silver buds described in the Daguan Tea Theory in the Song Dynasty, and it is also different from modern tea such as Lingyun Bai Hao and Junshan Yinzhen. Their raw materials are steamed first and then fried, belonging to green tea or yellow tea.

The creation of modern white tea begins with silver needles and white hairs. In Ming Dynasty, Tian Yiheng's Sketch of Boiling Springs said: "Tea drinkers should take fire as the second priority, while those who bask in the sun are the first, which is closer to nature, and fireworks are off." If this is a description of ancient white tea, then modern white tea can be called an ancient and young tea.

The origin of silver needle and white hair is Fuding, Zhenghe and two cities in Fujian Province. In the early years of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1796), Fuding used the strong buds of vegetable tea (a sexual group) as raw materials to create silver needles and white hairs. With regard to 1857, Fuding Dabai tea variety Tea Tree was successfully bred in fuding city, so from 1885, the strong buds of Fuding Dabai tea variety Tea Tree were used as raw materials, and vegetable tea was no longer used because of its small buds. Zhenghe County bred and propagated Zhenghe Dabai tea tree variety Tea Tree in 1880, and began to produce silver needles in 1889.

Nowadays, Yinzhen Bai Hao's tea buds are all collected from Fuding Dabai Tea or Zhenghe Dabai Tea. The tea buds of Dabai tea tree are several times fatter and bigger than those of vegetable tea, which may be the reason why Shen Kuo in Song Dynasty called the southern tea tree "the beauty of tea today. If its quality is good, the soil planted is beautiful, and the new buds grow an inch longer". Fuding Dabai Tea is a late bud variety, with full buds, high content of tea polyphenols and water extracts, fresh and refreshing taste, Qing Xiang and thick soup. The raw materials of the fine variety tea tree of Dabai Tea are the necessary material basis for making Yinzhen Baihao.

In order to cultivate robust buds, fertilizer cultivation management should be strengthened every autumn and winter, and tea trees with silver needles and white hairs should be collected. In the following year, the first and second rounds of spring tea have the best terminal buds, and after the third and fourth rounds, most of them are inverted buds, which are thinner. The first round of spring buds germinated after the regeneration of Taimowang is particularly fat, which is an ideal raw material for making high-quality silver needles and white hairs. Tea buds in summer and autumn are thin and do not meet the requirements of raw materials for silver needles and white hairs, so they are generally not collected.

The standard of picking raw materials of silver needles and white hair is to pick a leaf as soon as the tender buds of spring tea sprout, and then gently peel off the real leaves and fish leaves with your fingers. Spread the peeled tea buds evenly on the water curtain (bamboo curtain) without overlapping, put them in weak light or in front of ventilation, dry them to 80% dry, and then dry them with slow fire in a baking cage at 30 ~ 40℃. Also known as wool needles. Sieve the fat tea buds outside the hair, then remove the stems by hand (commonly known as silver needle feet), sieve and winnow to remove leaves, fragments and impurities. Finally, bake it with slow fire and package it while it is hot.

The buds of silver needles are very fat, covered with white hairs, as straight as needles and as white as silver. The tea buds produced in Fuding are thick, white and shiny, the soup is light apricot yellow and the taste is fresh and refreshing. Produced by Zheng He, the soup is mellow.

The soaking method of Yinzhen Bai Hao is basically the same as that of green tea, but the tea juice is not easy to leach because it has not been kneaded, and the brewing time is longer. Generally, every 3 grams of silver needle is put into a colorless and flowerless transparent glass scalded with boiling water, and 200 ml of boiling water is poured. At first, tea buds floated on the water. After 5 ~ 6 minutes, the tea buds partially sink into the bottom of the cup and partially suspend the upper part of the tea soup. At this time, the tea buds stand upright, staggered up and down, and look like stalactites, which is a spectacle. After about 10 minutes, the tea soup turns yellow and can be drunk. At this time, watching and drinking, the customs of the dusty customs are gone, and it is full of interest.

Silver needle white hair began to be exported as early as 189 1 and reached its peak at1912 ~1916. At that time, Fuding Zhenghe produced 1000 tons, 1965438+. In recent years, the annual output of silver needles is only a few hundred kilograms to thousands of kilograms, which is a rare treasure. At present, silver needles and white hairs are mainly sold in Hong Kong and Macao. Also sold to Germany and the United States. In Europe, some people will add some silver needles to their cups when making black tea to show their preciousness.

Silver needle is cold, which has the functions of clearing away heat, relieving summer heat and detoxifying, and is regarded as a good medicine for curing measles patients in the north. 1982 was rated as a national famous tea by the Ministry of Commerce, ranking first among 30 famous teas.

Junshan Yinzhencha

Junshan Yinzhen is produced in Luoqing Island, Dongting Lake, Yueyang. It is known as "Dongting Di Zi hates spring and the grass grows for two thousand years". It is a famous traditional tea with a history of more than one thousand years. Junshan silver needle is made of fat and leafless bud tips. It is covered with hair, bright in color, and smells of Gao Shuang. There are oranges in the soup, and it tastes very sweet. Although standing for a long time, the taste remains the same. When washing, the tip is suspended on the water surface and then slowly sinks, which is the case for the first three times. When erected, such as unearthed fresh bamboo shoots; When it sinks, it falls like a snowflake. The appreciation value is high. The collection and processing of Junshan silver needles are similar to ordinary exquisite tea, but the drying treatment is quite special. Drying is divided into four steps: primary drying, primary packaging, secondary drying and secondary packaging, which takes three days. The initial baking temperature is 80℃ to 90℃. After 70% is dry, it is wrapped in kraft paper and put in wooden cases, which is called the initial package. After two days, take it out and bake it again. The re-drying temperature is low. When it is 90% dry, wrap it in paper and leave it for a day. When the bud turns pale yellow and gives off a fresh fragrance, it is dried at low temperature and stored in an iron box. With this technology, the effective chemicals contained in bud leaves will change well with the slow loss of water in leaves, and the color, fragrance and shape of tea will be more perfect. According to textual research, A Dream of Red Mansions once said that the "Laojunmei" brewed by Miaoyu with plum blossom snow next year is Junshan Silver Needle.