The floral-scented Bai Mudan tea is made from suitable raw materials for White Tea production, processed through a combination of withering, shaking the green, stacking after merging sieves, baking, and sorting.
The processing of floral-scented Bai Mudan tea mainly includes the following steps:
1. First combined withering: indoor natural withering, indoor heated withering, and sun withering are combined. Sun withering should be done during the morning or evening when the sunlight is weak.
2. Shaking the green: this is done once, shaking 40 to 60 times.
3. Second combined withering: it starts with indoor heated withering at a temperature of 15 to 25°C and relative Humidity of 40% to 50%, lasting 3 to 6 hours. If the moisture content of the withered leaves reaches 18% to 22%, they can then be transferred to indoor natural withering, which lasts 2 to 5 hours to complete.
4. Stacking after merging sieves: after the second combined withering, the sieves are merged, and the tea is piled up to a thickness of 15 to 35 cm. The stacking process lasts 1 to 7 days.
5. Initial baking: at a temperature of 50 to 60°C, lasting 60 to 100 minutes.
6. Sorting: after the initial baking and cooling, the tea is sorted to remove yellow leaves, waxy leaves, and non-tea foreign objects. Care is taken not to break the buds and leaves during sorting.
7. Re-baking: at a temperature of 45 to 50°C, lasting 120 to 180 minutes. After re-baking, the moisture content in the finished tea is controlled between 4% and 7%.
This processing technology addresses issues with some existing white teas, such as dark green appearance, white down without luster, deep yellow liquor, and mild but thin taste. It enhances both the external appearance and internal quality of the white tea, making it more visually appealing with a gray-green color and a distinct downy fragrance. The liquor is apricot yellow, and the taste is rich and sweet with a long-lasting aftertaste. The tea made using this process has a high, sharp aroma with a noticeable floral scent, filling the gap of bland aroma and lack of floral notes in white tea.
The dry tea of floral-scented Bai Mudan tea presents whole buds and leaves connected, curled leaf edges, plump buds, a gray-green color with luster, and visible silver-white down. The dry tea aroma is fresh and reveals downy fragrance. The liquor color is light Honey yellow, clear and bright, with visible down. The aroma of the liquor is pure and the orchid-like fragrance is intense and lingering; the downy fragrance is fresh and long-lasting, sweet and pleasant. The taste is mild, fresh, sweet, and refreshing, with sufficient downy flavor. The aroma of the soup reveals delicate and uplifting sweet floral notes. The infused leaves are soft, bright, and uniform, with a spread-out appearance, plump buds, tender leaf quality, and a light green-yellow color. The veins are clearly visible with a slight reddish hue.
The Yinnong Tea Professional Cooperative in Fuding City began processing and promoting floral-scented Bai Mudan tea in 2011. They have since established a standardized tea base covering 500 mu, driving farmers to establish a high-efficiency, high-quality tea base of 1,100 mu. They built a standardized factory, introduced new equipment, applied key technologies and processing techniques to develop and produce floral-scented Bai Mudan tea and other premium new products, significantly improving the comprehensive benefits of the tea industry. From 2012 to 2020, they helped over 5,600 households of farmers increase their annual income by 22%, with an average increase of 1,750 yuan per household.
Authors: Lin Zhenchuan, Shao Keping