Processing Methods and Technical Key Points of Longnan Biyu Tea

Longnan Biyu Tea is produced in the Longnan tea region at the junction of Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan in southern Gansu. The production area has a mild and humid climate; on clear days, fog covers the ground in the morning and evening, while on rainy days, clouds fill the mountains all day long, providing unique growing conditions for tea trees at high latitude and high altitude.

Longnan Biyu Tea uses tender buds and leaves of medium- and small-leaf population tea trees picked during the period from Qingming to Guyu as raw materials, and is processed through fixing, carding, drying, refining and other processes. Its appearance is flat, straight, slender, with a jade-green, even and lustrous color, a fresh, high and elegant aroma, a mellow, refreshing and crisp taste, and a tender, even, green and bright infused leaf. From 2003 to 2006, Longnan Biyu Tea continuously obtained organic tea certification from the Hangzhou China Agricultural Quality Certification Center; in April 2006, at the 3rd China Ningbo International Tea Culture Festival, Longnan Biyu Tea won the silver award in the 2006 "Zhonglv Tea" China Famous and Excellent Green Tea Competition.

1. Picking begins in early April. Special-grade tea mainly uses just-sprouted, unopened tea buds, while first-grade tea uses initial one-bud-one-leaf shoots. Fresh leaves are held in bamboo baskets; after picking, fish leaves, old leaves, scales and other impurities are removed by hand to ensure the raw materials are uniform, then they are spread thinly on bamboo trays for 2-6 hours.

2. For fixing, a 6CS-30 or 6CS-40 drum-type famous tea fixing machine is used. Leaf feeding begins when the air temperature at the cylinder outlet reaches 90 degrees Celsius, with the appropriate degree being when the tea moisture content drops to 55% and the weight loss rate reaches 50%. The fixed leaves are promptly shaken loose and spread evenly and thinly on bamboo trays to cool, or an electric fan may be used to dissipate heat and cool them.

3. For carding, the fixed leaves are added when the trough temperature of the multi-function famous tea roasting machine reaches 120 degrees Celsius; for a 5-trough model, about 0.5 kg each time, with a reciprocating frequency of about 120 times/minute, and the first 3 minutes are without pressure; then the machine's reciprocating frequency is lowered to about 105 times/minute, a light pressure rod is added and roasting continues for about 2 minutes, followed by roasting without pressure for 1-2 minutes; finally, pressure roasting is carried out again for 4-6 minutes. When the tea strips are basically flat, tight and straight in appearance, the pressure rod is removed, and they are tossed-roasted for about 1 minute before being taken out of the machine. The entire carding time is 10-12 minutes.

4. Drying uses a famous tea baking machine at about 110 degrees Celsius. When the moisture content drops below 6% and the tea strips can be crushed into powder when rubbed by hand, they are removed from the machine and spread to cool.

5. Fine selection, cutting off the ends and manual picking and sorting. Grading, packaging, storage, @#@136@#@.