Summer is a good time for the smell of flowers. Especially in the summer night wind, there is a faint driftGardenia scent. The fragrance is very penetrating, as if to smudge the air, stained with the smell of gardenia, refreshing people's spleen. 
It's a pity that once the midsummer is over, the fragrance of flowers is difficult to stay. So the "old thing" is convenientPick fresh gardenias and Tieguanyin togetherThe fragrance of flowers and the soul of flowers are left in the tea. Facing the pungent aroma, take a sip into your throatThe taste of the tea is fresh and transparent, and it even tastes milky and honeyy. The restless hot summer, unexpectedly, was ironed by this sip of tea, obedient and soft. It's, that isGardenia oolong. 
Tea with flowers has existed since ancient times. Gu Yuanqing of the Ming Dynasty said in "Tea Recipe": "Jasmine ......."Osmanthus, gardenia, plum blossom, can be used as tea. When the flowers bloom, pick the fragrance of half and half of the whole one, measure the amount of tea leaves, and pick the flowers for tea. If there are many flowers, it is too fragrant, and the tea rhyme is removed; If there are few flowers, they are not fragrant, but not beautiful. Three stop tea, one stop flower to say. ”
And this gardenia oolong is inherited"Flower tea kiln".This ancient handmade tea process. When the gardenia blooms, the tea farmers in Anxi, the birthplace of Tieguanyin, will pick fresh gardenias and make them together with Tieguanyin to make gardenia oolongLet the floral aroma remain intact in the tea leaves. 
Start from serving flowers, and then sieve flowers, then mix flowers with tea, pile up, ferment for three or five hours, tea leaves are roasted by charcoal, and finally the petals are sieved offOnly smell the flowers, but not the flowers. 
This timeAged for three years, the charcoal-roasted Tieguanyin is used as the tea baseThe shape of dry tea is curly, the color is dark green, and the tea aroma and floral aroma are completely blended together to form a unique aroma. The boiling water is boiled, and the aroma comes to the noseThe tea soup is golden yellow, the soup taste is mellow, clear, and neutralizes the milky and honey sweet fragrance of gardenia. Finish it in one gulpThe faint scent of gardenia drifts into your nose with the wind. 
The gardenia oolong process is similar to the Fuzhou jasmine making process, but it is more complex than jasmine tea. Because the stamens of gardenia are slightly acidic, and the calyx has a bitter and astringent taste, the calyx and stamens need to be removed by hand when making them, leaving only the white petals for tea. 
Gardenia oolong is rare on the market because of the complex making process, time-consuming and laborious production cost. Another reason is that there are almost no gardenia fields now, and there are fewer tea people who know this craft. The gardenia used in this kiln isWild gardenias in Xiping, Anxi.
Gardenias are divided into small leaves and large leaves, and most of the gardenias we usually see are shrubs, but what we encountered on Anxi Tea Mountain this time is "the blossom of a tree".
According to the locals, these gardenia trees,The trees are forty or fifty years oldThe director also blooms with large flowers. Ideally, the buds are ripe and open at the beginning of the day.
When picking, it should be handled with care to avoid squeezing the petals and causing discoloration and affecting the quality of the flowers. The flowers are treated, the stamens and receptacles are removed, leaving only the petals and peduncles, and they are spread out in a clean and cool place.
The tea master has selected the tea blank in advance for this flower event, and the traditional charcoal roasting Tieguanyin has been aged for 3 yearsThe aroma of aged tea is introverted, does not rob the floral fragrance, and the tea is stable and peacefulIt is also good for storage.
Follow the traditional process for kilning, Tieguanyin layer, gardenia layer,The collision of new flowers and old tea, new fragrance and old fragrance. The "vigorous" floral fragrance is inhaled by the old tea, and the "heavy and calm" of the old tea is incorporated into the new flowersRepeat several times to allow the aroma of tea and flowers to soak into each other. 100 kilograms of tea, 70 kilograms of fresh gardenias, 15 to 16 hours. Ten thousand gardenias for tea bones, it is difficult to think of fragrant.
The next day, the dead flowers need to be picked, the tea leaves are dried, and they are dried for three or four days. After that, a second Titian is required. 100 catties of tea leaves and 5 catties of gardenias to enhance the fragrance, the camellia fusion for three hours, and then manually pick out the flowers one by one. The whole process of kilning takes about 6 daysIn order to drink the gardenia oolong that is handmade and fragrant with flowers into the tea bones.
After witnessing the short-lived blooming gardenias, the floral fragrance was entrusted to the tea, and then it became a wisp of fragrance between people's lips and teeth together with the tea fragrance. It can be hot and coldA pot of brewing, the room is full of fragrance.
Hot bubblesIt is recommended to use a standard gaiwan, throw 6 8g of tea, brew with boiling water, the first three dishes can be brewed immediately, and the subsequent soaking time can be extended or shortened according to your own taste.
Cold brewTake 5 6g of tea leaves, put them in a cup, add about 500ml of purified water, and refrigerate for about 2 hours (when the amount of water is small, the amount of tea can be reduced by half). The cold brewed tea soup is fresh and sweet, with a faint gardenia fragrance and honey fragrance, and you can also feel a clear cooling feeling after entering the mouth, sweeping away the sultry atmosphere of summer.
Compared with those flowers that no one hears from blooming to turning to dust, the life of gardenias is eternal. She blooms and falls quickly, but in the long process of craftsmanshipA long-standing fragrance. I think it's not just the comfort of that sip that I drink, it's alsoEndless romance.