With the arrival of Winter Solstice, the north is already blanketed in snow, while southerners are starting to exhale white mist.
In the cold winter, people favor warmth, which has given rise to a new social media trend in 2022: “cozy tea brewing around a brazier.”
The most essential element for cozy tea brewing is a small brazier, best made of pottery, accompanied by some smokeless charcoal, bringing warmth in the winter. Place a wire mesh over the brazier, set a pot of tea in the middle, and surround it with tangerines, sweet potatoes, grains, and a plate of pastries, completing the new-Chinese style cozy tea brewing.
Teahouses provide a venue for socializing and venting. /Visual China
When brewing tea around a brazier in winter, the gentle bubbling sound of the hot tea on the stove and the steam mixed with the sweetness of roasted fruits easily evoke images of ancient literati's elegant life: “the freshly baked tea leaves warm the shallow cup, and the tea is ground in a small mill on a sunny window.”
A mouthful of hot tea warms the whole body, filling one with happiness.
During leisure time, inviting family and friends to experience this rustic lifestyle of brewing tea around a brazier not only creates a warm and healing atmosphere but also offers a sense of ease amidst the pervasive anxiety and tension of the information age.
“Sizzle —”
If you focus on Guangzhou, you'll find that the trendy cozy tea brewing and an old Cantonese specialty create a unique spark: Xinhui aged Tangerine Peel.
Rich and refreshing, it is elegance
The equipment for cozy tea brewing is not complicated, but for a high-quality experience, every item, from the tea leaves to the pastries and fruits, must be carefully selected.
In Guangdong, represented by Guangzhou, green immature tangerine tea is preferred for cozy tea brewing.
Green immature tangerine tea refers to tea made by removing the flesh from unripe tangerines (Citrus reticulata), filling them with Pu'er tea, and drying them in the sun, also known as “tangerine Pu'er tea.”
Green immature tangerine tea. /Tooching Creative
Like all teas, green immature tangerine tea comes in several grades. The best green immature tangerine tea must use Xinhui tangerines from Guangdong. The green tangerines grown here have a rich flavor, mixed with a faint floral aroma, giving the rich Pu'er tea a fresh and fragrant taste.
During cozy tea brewing, drop a round, miniature green immature tangerine into the pot. As boiling water is poured, the tea gradually turns into a bright amber color, and the fruit fragrance blends with the tea aroma, slowly wafting out. Sipping the tea reveals a slight bitterness followed by a sweet aftertaste that quickly fills the mouth.
For the selection of pastries, Cantonese people prefer aged tangerine peanuts. Though just a snack, making aged tangerine peanuts involves a complex process. High-quality aged tangerine peanuts require Xinhui aged tangerine boiled for 30 minutes using eight to ten years-aged peel, then adding Spices and small peanuts. The peanuts undergo a full one and a half hours of steaming to ensure each one is thoroughly infused with the aroma of aged tangerine.
Aged tangerine peanuts. /Visual China
The crispy peanuts bring joy to the tongue, and the aged tangerine adds a sweet and refreshing citrus aroma to the salty flavor, leaving a long-lasting sweet aftertaste without any greasiness, making them unforgettable.
Of course, besides aged tangerine, fresh tangerines also shine in cozy tea brewing. Place a Xinhui tangerine near the brazier. With a sizzling sound, fragrant steam rises, ready for the warm tangerine. Carefully peel it open, and the sweet and sour juice warms the mouth, making everything sweeter.
Fresh tangerines. /Tooching Creative
The flavors of tea and aged tangerine both start bitter before turning sweet, embodying the Chinese philosophy of “bitterness turning to sweetness.” This taste is a tangible representation of the word “elegance” in China since ancient times.
Aged tangerine has long been integrated into the lives of Cantonese people
You may have noticed a detail in the above-mentioned Cantonese-style cozy tea brewing: although Chinese people generally accept aged tangerine, Cantonese people have a particular fondness for its flavor.
In Guangdong, a province renowned for its cuisine, if you ask what flavor best represents Guangdong, the locals might struggle to answer.
Aged tangerine flavor is likely the top answer, as in this region where even drinking water has Health benefits, aged tangerine is virtually omnipresent.
Aged tangerine has long been integrated into the lives of Cantonese people. /Tooching Creative
Aged tangerine is a spice made by peeling and drying tangerine peels and storing them for a long time. As the saying goes, the three treasures of Guangdong are aged tangerine, old ginger, and rice straw, with aged tangerine being the undisputed first.
Cantonese people take aged tangerine seriously as a healthy food. According to the “Chinese Pharmacopoeia,” aged tangerine is “bitter, pungent, and warm, entering the lung and spleen meridians, and is most effective at resolving phlegm in these two meridians.” In simpler terms, aged tangerine is good for stopping coughs and resolving phlegm.
The “Compendium of Materia Medica” also praises the medicinal value of aged tangerine and points out: “Today, the best quality comes from Xinhui (in Guangdong).” That is, “Xinhui aged tangerine” from Xinhui, Guangdong, is the highest quality aged tangerine.
Xinhui Aged Tangerine Village.
Aged tangerine, especially Xinhui aged tangerine, aligns with Cantonese people's concept of integrating medicine and food, and is locally abundant, naturally becoming an essential Seasoning in Cantonese cuisine.