Song Sancheng quickly responded: "Here, waiting!"
He quickly picked up the carrying pole and went down the mountain.
Standing at the door was Zhou Maozhu from the same village. This time, the family had entrusted him to roast the tea.
The heat also matters when frying tea leaves. Some people fry them too hard, while others too raw, and the finished products are always unsatisfactory. Only Zhou Maozhu, who worked in those big tea factories for a long time when he was young, has the most stable skills now.
It was originally agreed that they would be gathered together every evening, and he would process them at night.
Unexpectedly, the tea leaves were so abundant this time that five people had to pick a lot of tea. Zhou Maozhu didn't have a tea roasting machine at home, so he might have to stay up all night.
But he is the best tea cook in the village, and he still has a tea-roasting stove at home.
Other places are far away, and secondly, people now use tea roasting machines to roast tea collectively, so it is difficult to process the tea sent there individually.
When he saw Song Sancheng, he couldn't help but smile on his equally weathered face:
"Sancheng! Your family is really favored by the God of Land this year. Come and take a look at this tea!"
He opened the transparent plastic bag he was holding, and a refreshing fragrance immediately filled the air!
"Yesterday, a total of 25.2 jin of Maojian was delivered. You said there was no need to sift it, so I didn't sift it. I saw that the ones I picked were quite pure, without many leaves."
The most popular local tea is Maojian, which has only one bud tip. The second most popular is the one with one leaf, and after that, the more leaves there are, the less valuable it is.
Farmers who specialize in making tea will strictly classify the grades and set different prices, but Song Sancheng's family only has a piece of land, so there is no need for this.
Zhou Maozhu reached out and took out a handful of dry dark green tea with a layer of white velvet and showed it to him:
"Three and a half pounds make one pound, so after frying it, the total is a little over seven pounds. But didn't you say you wanted to sell it? So I baked it a little drier so it would be easier to preserve."
"But this way, we will have five kilograms of dry tea this time. You can pick out the leaves when you have time."
Having all done the work before, as soon as Zhou Maozhu mentioned the number, Song Sancheng knew whether it was feasible or not.
He smelled the refreshing tea fragrance, and his throat felt dry. So he nodded and quickly pulled the person into the house:
"Come on, let's make two cups and see the color of the soup!"
The best Maojian tea must not be soaked in boiling water. It happened that the water in the thermos at home was boiled early in the morning. It was an old thermos with very average heat preservation ability. I guess the temperature is just right at this moment.
Song Sancheng took out two glass cups, put two handfuls of tea leaves in each, simply washed the tea, and began to taste it impatiently.
—There’s no such thing as professional or non-professional, it all depends on experience.
As the crystal clear water brewed it, the dark green dry tea instantly rolled over in the water, and then slowly expanded, presenting a gorgeous emerald color.
A faint fragrance slowly filled the room. Song Sancheng couldn't help but take two deep breaths. This time he really felt that it was the God of Land who had opened his eyes and appeared in their fields!
I have never smelled such fragrant tea in my life.
Zhou Maozhu looked at the upright hair tips in the cup, and at this moment, there was pride and joy in his eyes:
"30%! Your tea is really amazing this year!"
"It was just put into the pot yesterday, and the fragrance came out immediately! When I finished cooking, I felt refreshed all over when I smelled it, and I felt more and more comfortable."
"It smelled better and better as it was fried, and the whole yard smelled refreshed. But the refreshing effect was a bit too strong, and I haven't had time to taste it yet. Maybe I smelled it too much and stayed up all night, but I'm not sleepy yet."
The "green-killing" that Zhou Maozhu mentioned is not the one in the movie, but the initial step in their local tea frying process, which is mainly used to stimulate the tea aroma, evaporate moisture, and make the tea leaves softer for easier rolling.
Generally, the tea leaves will have a wet tea fragrance in this process, and the taste is quite unique.
But just smelling the aroma of tea during the roasting process is so refreshing that even Zhou Maozhu, who has worked in a large tea factory, would say so...
Song Sancheng couldn't help but smile when he smelled the refreshing fragrance that filled the room.
At this time, Zhou Maozhu asked embarrassedly: "Sancheng, how do you plan to sell this tea? After the tea is fried, can you give me a pound?"
How to sell
Song Sancheng doesn’t know either!
He only knew that his daughter was capable, she could grow 21 kilograms of wild vegetables from the field, but this tea... he couldn't even imagine it.
But at this moment, Zhou Maozhu's request was not excessive.
He thought that the production was small and it would only take a few hours to stir-fry tea leaves, so he negotiated with Zhou Maozhu for a wage of 120 yuan a day. With his skills, if he went out to work, it would be tiring, but at least he could earn 300 to 400 yuan a day!
No matter how expensive this tea is, the butcher usually has to take something back, so give it what you deserve!
Song Sancheng made the decision:
"Old Zhou, I think our tea plantation will produce a lot of tea this year. I guess you'll have to stay up late every night during this period. Give me the tea leaves, it will definitely work."
"But we can't be sure about the weather and yield. Anyway, if everything is pretty much the same as today, then I'll make the decision—"
"How about this, I'll give you a pound of Mingqian tea!"
"Two pounds of pre-rain tea."
"If there is more to come, how about five kilograms of summer and autumn tea?"
Most Maojian teas are most expensive during the period before Qingming Festival, followed by Grain Rain. When it comes to summer tea, the price drops to a lower level.
Of course, there are summer teas in summer and white dew teas in autumn, each with its own flavor. It all depends on whether these teas are worth such a long investment this year.
Song Sancheng's gift was quite generous.
It's all because of Zhou Maozhu's dedication and honesty. If someone else were to come and secretly roast tea leaves, he could collect a few ounces a day, and in a month he would have made quite a bit.
Song Sancheng smiled shyly: "You know, my Tan Tan is in charge of this right now, and we as parents are just helping her."
The implication is that no matter how much he is given, he can't give and can't make the decision.
Zhou Maozhu was already satisfied, even overjoyed.
"Okay, okay! Okay, okay! I know your tea must be expensive! Don't worry, I will definitely roast your tea leaves well, so that none of it will be wasted."
"Oh," he began to rub his hands, sighing, "You said there are so many good teas, I have to keep the pre-rain tea for myself to drink slowly."
"If summer tea is of this quality, I'll give it to my son as a gift. It's better than the ones that cost thousands of dollars out there."
Song Sancheng laughed: "You chose summer tea as a gift for your son? Why don't you choose pre-rain tea?"
However, Zhou Maozhu shook his head:
"You don't understand. I've never tasted tea as good as this in my life. What kind of gift is so exaggerated?"
The most important thing is that there are five kilograms of summer tea, and we will give one kilogram at a time. If people like it and want more, it will be convenient to strike while the iron is hot!
"We are just this family, we just need to do what we can, Xia Cha is fine."