bookcurios Chapter 1165: Studious
Chapter 1165: Studious
Su Xing said with anticipation, "Great! I've never tasted Green Pond wine that's been stored for ten years."
Zhang Caifeng was a little confused, but she replied to Su Xing, "Okay."
She was Su Xing's roommate for several years and also drank some of his tea. When she was tired from studying and wanted to refresh herself, she would brew a cup of green tea that Su Xing gave her in a large teacup.
She had also read Su Xing's popular science articles about tea on Weibo, so she had a basic understanding of the six major tea categories.
But in reality, she hadn't really drunk many kinds of tea; she only knew a few representative teas from the six major tea categories.
She had never heard of the Green Pond that Shen Bai was talking about, let alone knew which type of tea it belonged to.
Shen Bai got up to get the tea cake, broke off a teapot, and began to warm the cups and utensils, preparing to brew the tea.
He could tell that the student who had just woken up probably didn't drink tea much anymore, so while boiling water and preparing the tea set, he casually introduced the tea.
"There's a place called Lushuitang in Yunnan Province that's quite interesting. It's located on a mountain in Mengku, Lincang, at a relatively high altitude. It's surrounded by forests, and the tea trees grow in a very natural way. They're quite old. When you taste it, the orchid and honey aromas are quite prominent, and it's very palatable. However, the tea gardens there are small, and there aren't many tea trees. It's considered a well-regarded tea among niche teas."
He didn't try to show off, and his introduction wasn't very in-depth.
Zhang Caifeng, however, was a studious girl. She would earnestly ask questions about things she didn't understand and didn't feel ashamed of acquiring knowledge.
She asked, "So, Green Pond is a Pu'er tea from Yunnan Province? Is it a place name and also a tea name?"
Shen Bai looked up at her and smiled, "That's right, that's how it is."
Su Xing added from the side: "Most of the teas in Yunnan Province are named after place names or mountains. The Lushuitang Ancient Tea Garden is located deep in the western half of Mengku Mountain, adjacent to Xiamolie and Baqu Mountain, at an altitude of about 2200 meters. The ecology there is pristine, with a high forest coverage rate. Ancient tea trees and rare plants coexist there. The tea garden covers an area of only 30 mu, with fewer than 100 ancient tea trees, and the annual yield is extremely low, only about 200 kilograms."
She knew Zhang Caifeng's personality, so she gave a more detailed introduction.
"Really?" Zhang Caifeng looked up and adjusted her glasses, saying expectantly, "Then I'll definitely have to drink a couple more glasses later!"
Su Xing and Shen Bai both laughed.
Shen Bai brewed tea. He rinsed the tea with the first brew and poured it into the tea rinse bowl. For the second brew, he used a fairness cup to pour more than half a cup into the tasting cups of the two guests and his own host cup.
He then gestured to the two ladies, "Please, have a drink."
Su Xing gave Shen Bai a finger-tapping salute and picked up his teacup.
Zhang Caifeng followed suit and also performed the finger-tapping salute to Shen Bai.
She had previously seen Su Xing introduce this kind of tea table etiquette on her Weibo, and at the time she wondered if it would be awkward to suddenly do such a thing to someone else.
Now she's learning to do the finger-tapping greeting from Su Xing, and it feels fine. Everyone is very natural with her, and she doesn't feel embarrassed at all.
Su Xing took a sip of tea and savored it carefully.
Shen Bai asked with a smile, "How was it?"
Su Xing said earnestly, "It's smooth, sweet, and mellow. The transformation and deepening have made it almost free of bitterness. The aged aroma blends with the original orchid and honey aromas, making it even more mellow. The aroma is not overpowering, but rather subtle and long-lasting. The sweetness is very prominent, which is the natural sweetness of the tea soup itself. After drinking it, there is a noticeable moisturizing feeling in the throat, unlike the aftertaste of new tea which may be accompanied by a slight dryness. It's really great!"
Shen Bai laughed and said, "Your tongue is truly amazing."
He then looked at Zhang Caifeng.
Zhang Caifeng first tentatively took a small sip, then, with a puzzled expression, took another small sip.
Su Xing also turned to look at Zhang Caifeng, and seeing her like this, he couldn't help but smile.
When Zhang Caifeng noticed that Su Xing and Shen Bai were both looking at her, she said somewhat shyly, "It tastes quite fragrant and sweet to me, very delicious, but I don't know much else about it..."
Shen Bai said, "It's alright, tea is just a beverage, as long as you like it."
Su Xing also said, "Yes, 'delicious' is the highest praise for tea."
Zhang Caifeng laughed upon hearing this, and laughed very happily.
Shen Bai brewed another pot of tea and gave it to Su Xing and Zhang Caifeng.
The tea soup was a bit darker this time than the previous two times.
Looking at the orange-red tea in the cup, Zhang Caifeng asked with some doubt, "Is this ripe Pu'er?"
This was her first time drinking Pu'er tea, and she had no idea about the difference in taste between raw and ripe Pu'er tea.
She learned that ripe Pu'er tea seems to have a darker color when she read Su Xing's Weibo post explaining things to the public.
Shen Bai said apologetically, "It was my oversight. I forgot to tell you that this is a raw Pu-erh tea. However, after ten years of transformation, its taste, color, and internal substances are quite different from new raw Pu-erh tea."
People who drink Pu'er tea usually assume that tea stored for several years is raw Pu'er, so he forgot to mention it at the beginning.
Su Xing said, "Most people who hoard Pu'er tea are hoarding raw Pu'er tea. Raw Pu'er tea will change during long-term storage. The tea polyphenols, caffeine and other substances inside raw Pu'er tea will slowly oxidize and transform under the action of environmental microorganisms and enzymes, making the taste smoother and reducing bitterness. However, this process is passive and slow, and it will not turn it into fully fermented or semi-fermented tea."
Zhang Caifeng nodded, "So that's how it is..."
She took another sip of tea. It was delicious!
After the three of them drank tea for a while, Shen Bai asked them about their shopping experience at Panjiayuan that day.
"Did you find any treasures while you were browsing Panjiayuan today?"
Su Xing said, "I bought two ancient books, but they are both quite damaged. I'll repair them and then show them to you. As for the others... I also bought some ancient coins, but I'm not sure about their quality yet."
Zhang Caifeng also said, "I recently read some books about ancient coins and bought some coins this time, mainly to collect as props. I didn't expect to find any bargains."
She felt that she hadn't seen enough genuine cultural relics and wasn't very confident in her appraisal skills. Apart from those obviously fake items, she wasn't really sure about some objects that looked very real.
When Shen Bai heard from Su Xing that the two ancient books she bought were damaged and needed to be repaired, he didn't ask to see them again, just in case they caused further damage.
He said with a smile, "There are some ancient coins in Panjiayuan Market that are worth buying, especially the circulating currency from the Qing Dynasty, which is quite numerous."
Su Xing said, "I also think some of the ancient coins we acquired today are quite interesting. Mr. Shen, could you take a look at them for us?"
Shen Bai couldn't have been happier, and he said, "Of course."
Su Xing took the backpack and pulled out the copper coins she had bought.
Seeing this, Zhang Caifeng also took out the copper coins she had bought from her backpack. In addition to the copper coins from the Qing Dynasty, she also took out the two knife-shaped coins.