Making oriental beauty in a natural oolong tea plantation

Hi everyone. I'm driving to Dingo with a couple of friends. I wanted to start this morning but it was raining. Fortunately, afternoon it got clearer so the sun is here and we're on a nice countryside road. Today we're going to Feng Shui Lin. You've probably heard this name before if you've had our black tea. Last year we released a low oxidation black tea from Feng Shui Lin. It's a very special black tea because it's made of Wulong cultivar, Zhuangzi cultivar, also known as Qingxin, the most popular cultivar in Taiwan. Today we're going to go and meet the producer of this tea because we acquired more of this tea this year. We have some black tea and some oriental beauty. He told me that the particularity of these teas is that they come from unfertilized tea gardens. So we're going to see what does it mean to have an unfertilized and somehow unmanaged Wulong tea garden. So let's go! We've almost arrived but you can see the weather is not at its best there. So I hope it won't be pouring rain. Anyway, during the summer season, the rainy season, we have rain every day. You just have to wait for a couple of minutes or hours for it to pass. So let's move forward and see what happens. We're getting in the rain now, so that will make our visit harder. But we can still drink tea, I guess. So we arrived under thunder and rain, but it seems there's still a little bit of tea today. Let's have a look. So this is the Wulong varietal, Qingxing Wulong. And they've been withering for quite a long time apparently, because they already have that ready-to-make black tea flavor, you could say. So let's see. When did you pick this one? I picked it because of the weather. So what kind of tea are you going to make? I'm going to make the Oriental Beauty Tea. Oriental Beauty Tea, Oriental Beauty. So it's not pure Oriental Beauty? No, it's not. Wait, let me install a microphone for you. So after a day of withering, it's going to be time to give it a shake in the shaking machine. So we're waiting for the shaking step to finish. It takes about 10 minutes. The purpose of this shaking step is to break the edges of the fresh leaves so that a part of their enzymes are released and put in contact with the polyphenols. Therefore, the oxidation of the polyphenols will be quickened thanks to this processing. And it helps raise the fragrance of the tea, give it a special fragrance. This is a processing which is mostly used in Wulong tea making, such as is the case here. We're going to make Oriental Beauty. But you can also use it as a complementary process for black tea. So Xiao Zong, what tea are you going to make today? Today, we're going to make Oriental Beauty. Oriental Beauty. Can you tell us more about the process? The process is mainly to break the edges of the fresh leaves. After breaking the edges, the moisture is almost gone. Then it's a cleaning step. The purpose of cleaning is to make the leaves smoother or to speed up the process of water loss. And there's also the process of changing the fragrance. When the fresh leaves are picked, the fragrance of the green grass will be released. After the fragrance of the green grass is released, the fragrance of the fruit is gradually released. The tea we're going to make today is a secret fragrance. To make a secret fragrance, we need to observe the whole fermentation process to see where the fragrance changes. When we get to the secret fragrance point, we can move on to the next step, which is to finish. We use this pot to finish. The main purpose of finishing is to stop fermentation. After finishing, we will use this cloth. Why do we use this cloth? The purpose of this cloth is to shape the tea. If you don't use this cloth to wrap the leaves, the leaves will touch the air when you put them on the ground. When we do this, we have to fry them a little bit. The purpose of this cloth is to soften the leaves. When the leaves are soft, they are more conducive to the shape of the tea. When the leaves are soft, we will use the Wangyue-style kneading machine. This is a kneading process. If the quality of the leaves is good, we don't need to knead them for a long time. One or two minutes is enough. If we knead them for a long time, the leaves will be too tight. The leaves will be too tight. After the kneading is done, we will use the oven to dry the leaves. We will use the oven to dry the leaves. Let's take a look. It's hot. When did you make this? I made it yesterday. I made it this morning. Do you need to dry it for a long time? It's fine as long as it's dry. What's the temperature? The temperature is 85°C. It depends on the quality of the leaves. If the quality of the leaves is good, we can reduce the temperature. So, the temperature is low. The temperature is low. When we make red tea, we usually use higher temperature. When we make red tea, we usually use higher temperature. I think the tea leaves are less preserved. The fragrance is better, right? Yes, it's better. We need to check it. This is another question I want to discuss. What's the specification of this kiln? The purpose is to keep the water in the tea leaves. The leaves are dry. But the water is still in the tea leaves. We need to stir the leaves gently. If we stir the leaves too hard, the water in the tea leaves will not be distributed. The leaves are dry. But the water in the tea leaves is still in the tea leaves. We need to stir the leaves gently. The water in the tea leaves will not be distributed. I want to make a comparison. We can look at it. I want to know more about this. We can look at it. The water in the leaves is actually very little. Some of the leaves are very dry. But the tea leaves are still wet. But the leaves are still wet. The tea leaves are still very dry. We need to stir the leaves gently. The scent of the texture of tea The scent of teatiche is very different. Each flavor is different. For example, when we just take it out, or because we are just starting to shake it, it gives off a light smell. But maybe if we let it sit for another two hours, it will turn into another kind of flavor. So how long do you need to shake it? One of the standards is to let the surface be slightly soft, so that it doesn't stick to your hands. For example, now... I want to take a look. You see, now when you touch it, it's not as rough. It sticks to your hands. Now it's very light. The smell has changed. Yes, it's... I feel like there's a fine smell. Yes. I feel like there's a fine smell. What's a fine smell? I feel like... I don't know. It's that kind of fragrance. Yes. It's not bad. When this flavor goes down, it will turn into another kind of fragrance. Yes. The purpose is to get rid of the light smell. The light smell. Yes. This is called the light smell. It's another kind of fragrance. What's the standard for this? The standard for this is... One leaf. Yes, one leaf. Is there no standard? There is. There is a standard. Yes. How's the harvest going? It's almost September. How's the harvest going these days? These two days... Because this year, there's a little more rain. There are still some small sprouts. If we harvest next time, it will be about a week later. So how long does this tea need to ferment? About... According to today's weather, it takes about two hours. Three hours. So at night... Yes. What do you do at night? At night, we make tea. Yes. So we have to wait another two hours. Then we can make tea at night. After two hours, we have to shake it again. We have to shake it again? Yes, we have to shake it again. So we don't finish it right away? No. We have to let it retain some moisture. Because right now, it has a lot of moisture. Because right now, if we want to make good Dongfang Meiren, we don't have enough ingredients. Why? Because the season has passed. Right now, there aren't many small leaves. It's a kind of... It's a kind of special summer bug. I'll show you later. What kind of environment is good for Dongfang Meiren? It's cool. It's hot, and the air is damp. Sometimes it rains. But it can't rain for a few days. That kind of environment is the best. Dongfang Meiren depends on the size of the leaves. The bigger the leaves, the better the fragrance. So can we say that expensive Dongfang Meiren is expensive because it has a lot of leaves? Yes, and the craftsmanship. The craftsmanship. Yes. What are the characteristics of the craftsmanship? What is difficult to make? I think the craftsmanship. The craftsmanship is the hardest. The craftsmanship. Yes. The next step is to fry. After that, it's easier to finish. Ah. It's the craftsmanship. And the water control. So you have to be able to control the water. I feel that making tea is all about water. It's all about controlling the water. Yes, the water also ensures the appearance. The appearance is mainly... The standard of the material is the same. If you step on it well, and when you knead it, the appearance will look good. If you eat it too much, the teeth will look very white. It will look very bright. Ah. So it's all about controlling the water. Because making this kind of tea, controlling the water is very important. If you don't control the water properly, when you make it, when you shake it for the first time, it will turn black. When it turns black, there is no way to fix it. Yes. So the most important thing is the first step. The first step is to shake it. It's important when you shake it for the first time. If you can't do it well the first time, no matter how long you leave it like this, you can't change it. At the end of the day, it doesn't look very bright. So the first step is to test the technique. This is Dongfang Meiren. Yes. There are different ways of making tea. If you only eat oolong tea three times a year, is it because it's finished? Yes. It depends on what kind of tea you want to make. For example, if you want to make granules, the fresh leaves have to grow to this height. Yes. If it's so small, you can't make granules. So it takes a long time for these tea leaves to grow to an average height. So you can only make granules three times a year. If you want to make ordinary red tea, or Dongfang Meiren, you don't have to wait for the tea leaves to grow very high. You can pick the big ones first. After a week, the small ones will grow again. Then you can pick the small ones. So if you want to make tea, you don't have to pick all the tea leaves. You can just leave some. Yes, you have to leave some. If you want to make granules, you have to pick all the tea leaves at once. Some people use machines to pick the leaves. You have to pick all the tea leaves at once and then trim the leaves. If you trim the leaves, the tea leaves will grow more evenly. If you make Dongfang Meiren, if it's not standard, what will happen? If it's not standard, first of all, it depends on the quality. The quality depends on the appearance and taste. If you make Dongfang Meiren, the small leaves will not grow well. It won't grow green. It will grow a little higher. If you pick all the tea leaves at once, some will be green and tender. If you pick all the tea leaves at once, the shape will be big and small. It won't look even. But what will happen to the taste? It will affect the taste. If it grows tall and green, it won't grow well. So it won't taste good. Maybe we can find a way to let the small leaves grow. I don't think we can control it. Have you thought about how to solve this problem? I can't. I can't do anything about it. You said we need to promote it. It depends on the natural environment. Yes, I think a lot of people are wrong. They think because of the small leaves, people don't plant pesticides. But the problem is that the most important thing to limit the growth of this plant is biodiversity. I think it's the nature. Because if you have a lot of biodiversity, it will be difficult to grow a large number of small leaves. It will be eaten by spiders and cockroaches. Yes, that's right. So I heard that in Taiwan, the most obvious taste is the oriental plum. They usually plant pesticides and kill all the small leaves. Then they put the small leaves. If there is no natural environment, it will grow fast. It will grow fast in two weeks. Then the spiders will eat it all. Yes, this is also a problem. So I feel that the challenge is if you don't plant pesticides, how do you make the oriental plum? How do you attract so many small leaves? And how do you reduce the growth of other plants? I plan to use some weeds. I don't plant weeds on the leaves. So how do you weed? It's a low-poison weed. What effect does the weed have? On the one hand, the weed will die. It will be a little brighter. On the other hand, it can also directly affect the yield of the tea. If you have a lot of weeds, the roots will always be in the soil. Even if you remove the weeds, the roots will still be in the soil. It won't do any good. I've seen it. If you lose weight, you can't lose it. So it depends on the buyer. It means that now you use a machine to weed. Yes, I think the cost is too high. You use a machine to weed. But there are two ways to weed. Either you weed on the top, or you dig deeper. If you dig a little deeper, the roots will fly away. Don't you do that? Because in Jinma, they like to use a little more pressure. The machine also digs a little deeper. It destroys all the roots inside. Don't you do that here? The pressure is low, but you can't do anything about the roots. In this rainy season, you just have to finish this piece of land. The weeds that were removed in the beginning have grown so high again. There's nothing you can do. I've heard another reason. I haven't tried it, but I remember a university professor talking about his research. When you use a machine to weed, the density is very low. Then the weed won't die. But it won't grow. You stop it from growing. That's a good thing. First, there's not much land, because the density is very low. Second, there's a cover. There's a cover, but it won't grow. Do you want to try it? I don't know if anyone has tried it here. I've tried it. I've consulted a lot of people. They say you can use a weed machine, but you have to use a low-poison one. Although it's a little more expensive, you have to use a low-poison one. You can't use a weed machine. What's the difference between a weed machine and a weed machine? The farm is much lower than a weed machine. It's very low. It's a low-poison machine. A low-poison machine. Do you mean that it's harmful? Or do you mean that it's stronger, so you don't need to use so much? The farm standard is much lower than a weed machine. It's not easy. There's nothing we can do. These are all weeds. All of them? Yes, all of them. They all came all the way here. So here we are in the tea gardens of Mr. Zhong, and you can see that... Well, it's raining first, but mainly it's kind of covered in weed. So we need to check and talk with Mr. Zhong about the weed management. And why did he choose to prune the tea trees at such a low level? You can't see that, but it's a decision that's made by the tea farmers. So we're going to investigate as to why he decided this. If you're looking at the garden now, you can see that there's not much tea leaves to see. You could say, because it's a bit covered in weed. Wulong tea is the cleanest tea. Look at those photos. There's no weeds, and there's a lot of tea. And look at the design here. It's very different. So what do you think is the reason? Well, on the one hand, it's because it's over-pressed. If it's over-pressed, and the tea leaves are smaller, the weeds will grow faster. On the other hand, you can see that in this garden, there are a lot of trees, and there's a lot of vegetation. So I thought, if it's possible, we could try to make it more ecological. Oh, I see. So that's one of the reasons. This is also very rare. I don't think I've ever seen Wulong tea like this before. I think it's because they like the sun. Yes. Usually, tea leaves take about 5 to 6 hours to grow. Why is that? Our tea, including Wulong tea, and other tea leaves, are more yellowish than other tea leaves. In Fujian, or other places, the leaves are greener. Our tea leaves take a longer time to grow. That's one of the reasons. Is it because of that? Yes. If you look closely, you can see that the leaves are very yellow. Is it because of the lack of eggs? Well, I don't think so. Because, in some local tea, every year, including the rainy season, the leaves are still wet. Oh. the leaves are still wet. It's wet, but it's still yellow. Yes. It's mainly because of the sun. Oh. The sun. Yes, the sun. The leaves are too long. So, you didn't trim the leaves? No, we didn't trim the leaves at all. We didn't trim the leaves for 10 years. We didn't cut the leaves, and we didn't do anything. You didn't cut the leaves for 10 years? Yes. You didn't trim the leaves for 10 years? Yes, because the leaves didn't grow. Oh. The leaves didn't grow. But, if you trim the leaves, what will happen? What if you trim the leaves at 1.5 meters high? I don't want to trim the leaves. I want to cut the grass, and then, if the leaves can grow, I will cut them. Oh, you can make Gu Shu. Yes. Gu Shu Oolong. It's a bit like Dan Cong, Phoenix Mountain in Guangdong. This is a local variety. Oh. This is not Oolong. Oh, it's not Oolong. I thought so. OK. We can go down here. OK. So, we can go closer. Have you trimmed the leaves? Yes, I have. Ah. Not bad, not bad. Do you think the leaves are yellow? This is because it has been trimmed. It has been trimmed, and then, its roots are very small. Oh. So, the nutrition is concentrated. If it is concentrated, it will grow very green. And then, in this season, it is the rainy season. Oh. So, when it grows, it will be very green. So, when it is spring tea, it will be more yellow? Yes. When it is spring tea, it will be a little yellow. And then, when it is autumn tea, it will be more yellow. When it is the most yellow, it will be autumn tea. Oh. When it is the most yellow, it will be autumn tea. Yes. It is fun. We can drink tea and take a bath at the same time. Ha ha. Right? Ha ha. So, I think it is enough. We can go back. Yes. OK. So, we will go back to your tea factory because it is raining. Yes. So, that's it for today. Do you still want to make your tea? Yes. OK. The taste is not enough. Yes, the taste is not enough. Let's see if it has changed. Yes. Smell it. Yes. It smells different from just now. Yes. OK! Bye bye! Ha ha. Thank you!