Making of Taiping Houkui Traditional

A stepped tea farm on a very steep slop in Taiping

The area of Taiping is made up largely of steep slopes many of which have been turned into stepped tea gardens, mostly for the Shi Da Ye cultivar.

A woman grasping youg leaves from her basket to put into a man's basket next to her

Two leaf pickers selling their pick of the morning at Old Master Wang's door

Sha Qing — Killing of the Greens

Master Wang feels the softness of the leaves to determine when the process of Sha Qing — arresting enzyme oxidation, in the Western concept of green tea processing — is properly done in his small charcoal fire roaster.

Laying down tea leaves in rows and columns on the screen of a square mesh

Before using pressure to flatten the tealeaves, helpers from Old Master Wang's own family and neighbours have to twist, fold and lay down the leaves in rows onto a fine metal screen.

Covering the leaves before the press

The pinched down tealeaves in the wire mesh are covered before going through the roller press.

An old man holding a square mesh screen with rows and columns of tealeaves flattened on it

Old Master Wang holding a mesh with freshly pressed tealeaves before sliding into the charcoal oven

Master Wang reaching into the charcoal tray

Old Master Wang checking the coal ash fire to ensure consistent baking for this round of production.

An old man holding a perfect looking log of wood charcoal

"This charcoal is very different from what you can buy from the shop," said Master Wang. "I made all the charcoal myself from trees around here that I know can yield a good smell when burning." He posted for me after walking me to the charcoal making hut, showing off his charcoal pile. It was too dark outside already, so we went back to his workshop to picture this.

Master Wang shows us the freshly baked Taiping Houkui Traditional that he just pulled out from the wooden oven

Master Wang showing off the fruit of the last two hours of processing — maybe 200g. Producing Taiping Houkui the traditional way is a demanding and tedious job

Comments (0)

Leave a reply

Alert for EU customers. Sudden customs rule change. Read more»