Old Chen is still appraising the tea.
After the fragrance assessment, when the stopwatch on the phone hits two minutes, Old Chen pours the tea that has been steeping in hot water for two minutes into a white ceramic tea bowl to begin the second step of tea appraisal.
The oolong tea made by Ansheng has leaves that appear green when not brewed, and after the first steeping, the color is more orange-red, with a few tea particles floating gently at the bottom of the cup, overall clear and bright without any cloudiness.
"........"
Seeing the color of the tea, Old Chen's eyes revealed a slight hint of peculiarity. He poured himself a cup to taste the tea and filled the gaiwan with hot water for a longer second steep.
The orange-red tea hits the mouth, still with a strong floral aroma immediately rushing up the nostrils, even before it enters the mouth, seeming as if you can already taste its tea flavor.
The first feeling upon entrance is the mellow sweetness of black tea, with a slight hint of fruitiness that Old Chen can't quite articulate.
As the tea is swallowed down the throat, the mellow sweetness and fruity taste of black tea, along with the tightening sensation on the tongue, begin to fade, leaving behind a rich floral aroma and a crispness similar to green tea.
"........"
Old Chen silently smacked his lips, feeling a little confused, still savoring the aftertaste of the tea infusion.
The unusually rich fragrance, along with the indescribable honeyed fruity flavor, puzzled this veteran tea farmer who had transitioned from pioneering fields to planting tea gardens.
The rich fragrance is easy to explain; it could be essence, it could be other additives.
But tea with essences has its drawbacks. Any tea with added essence cannot be steeped in high-temperature hot water, or else it will show obvious off-flavors and intense acidity and astringency, with the tea showing definite cloudiness.
But... Master Fox's brewed tea did not, it is entirely the most standard fragrant oolong.
"How about it? Isn't An Sheng's tea-making awesome? The old man used to praise me for having a talent for tea-making, saying I'd enter the game sooner or later!" Ansheng looked at Old Chen with eager anticipation, hoping he would comment on his aromatic oolong.
Ansheng indeed has a talent for tea-making, but he often flashes of brilliance, creating lots of new technologies that shock the old tea masters.
Especially with a certain radiation-rich fragrance, even if the old tea master saw a nuclear radiation detection report, he didn't dare to drink it.
Having talent is having talent, yet it comes with a little bit of rebelliousness and gives a nod to our forefathers.
".... I take back what I said earlier; this tea is definitely not essence tea. However, why is the floral scent so excessively rich? It doesn't give me the feeling of being made from Ah Hong's tea trees at all."
"If it were to be sold on the market, without brand premium, this richly fragrant oolong, I could probably sell for 1,300 to 1,600 per pound."
After deliberating for a moment, Old Chen spoke out the price of this tea in his mind:
"Especially the entrance's mellow sweetness of black tea, carrying a honey-like sweetness, left a strong impression, with nothing cloying during the aftertaste, only green tea's refreshing quality."
"?"
Listening to Old Chen's comments, a question mark appeared over Ansheng's head.
"How could there be a fruity, honeyed taste? This tea wasn't anything I haven't fried in a past life; it's just end-processed using a floral tea technique to emphasize fragrance; how could it be possible to taste the honey of black tea?"
Ansheng, half-believing, poured himself a cup from the tea bowl and attempted to taste it himself.
The reason he asked Old Chen to try the tea, frankly, was because even Ansheng didn't know if his taste as a fox had changed significantly from his past life.
What if the tea he found perfect himself seemed bland or too strong to human taste?
Therefore, Ansheng specially invited Old Chen to try the tea. If any shortcomings were found, twenty-four hours would be enough for Ansheng to use some remaining ingredients to fry a new tea.
"Smack smack…"
The little fox's soft red tongue stretched out, exploring the cooled tea infusion, the tip of the tongue naturally curled, drawing some tea into its mouth. Ansheng smacked his lips, using taste buds to sense the tea infusion.
Honey-like fruity aroma of black tea, sticky mouth feel, instantly appeared in the mouth.
"This honey-like feel… why does it seem so familiar?" As Ansheng smacked his lips, he felt something was off. This fig-like sugary feeling was definitely not brought by the oolong tea leaves themselves, and it felt familiar.
Ansheng seemed to think of something, with a suddenly stiff expression, turning his head to bury his nose into his own shoulder.
"Damn it! I was wondering why that familiarity felt so close!"
"Did Ansheng become a tea leaf additive?!"
Realizing the source of the unusual scent, the smile on Ansheng's cheeks gradually froze, carrying a trace of panic.
He swore!
He washed his hands while making tea, but because wearing gloves made it hard to sense temperature, generally, tea-making by hand doesn't involve wearing gloves by tea masters!
This tea received very high evaluation from Old Chen.
A tea ghost like Old Chen would spend about a thousand per pound to buy the tea.
On the retail market, after writing a brand name and adding a label of a master supervisor, the price could at least triple to over three thousand for half a pound gift box price.
The tea... might be good tea.
But this doesn't align with Ansheng's original intention!
He hoped to give Ah Qing's family a compliant, legally mass-producible tea, not one that required his personal involvement to make.
"No choice!"
"Since things have come to this, only that move can be used." Ansheng's face darkened, resolutely deciding in his heart.
This tea received a high evaluation from Old Chen, it must be able to stand out in the tea competition and reach the finals.
This tea would continue to compete.
If it wins a major award, Ansheng would put a master's supervision label on it, and when bored, he would fry a hundred-some pounds at Ah Qing's house, selling it in the store and online simultaneously.
But this is not the main product, it's for earning reputation, followed by listing the same raw material, process formula tea, selling at around two hundred a pound as staple food price, should have potential.
"Master Fox, are you selling this tea? My side only needs to submit three pounds for the competition, and I noticed at least five pounds left in the snakeskin bag..." Old Chen, after savoring this tea, wanted to buy a pound to take home.
"Ee ee ee——"
Ansheng, slightly weak, waved his hand, typing a line of text on the nearby phone screen:
[Forget about the money, take a pound home if you like it, and this tea isn't that good, just with some trickery, just cover your nose while drinking, and you'll taste different flavors.]
Old Chen, seeing the words on the screen, looked slightly puzzled and tried to drink as Master Fox suggested, covering his nose before sipping on the tea.
Old Chen, pinching his nose like drinking Chinese medicine, sipped the tea into his mouth.
This time, as he didn't smell that rich fragrance, his mouth naturally created saliva and his tongue tightened.
While tasting the mellowness, he could also feel a slight tea astringency, gradually his tongue started tightening and numbing, the numb feeling sustained for a moment, before gradually tasting a slight green tea's returning sweetness.
"The fragrance...."
According to Master Fox's way of drinking tea, Old Chen suddenly sensed the drawbacks of this tea, his eyes lit up, understanding why Master Fox's tea could make such high-quality premium tea with slightly equal materials.
The issue lies in the fragrance, so rich it makes one feel salivating just at the thought, making the mouth secrete saliva and creating a tightening feeling, combined with the lingering rich fragrance in the nasal cavity, temporarily tricking people's taste senses.
Although having a fraudulent nature, it didn't prevent Old Chen from feeling the tea quality was truly excellent.
No... it should be said the tea master's skill is good.
This slick operation is really slick, but one doesn't know which empty-headed bastard developed such tea frying technique, by the look of him as a kind of black-hearted merchant, buying inferior ingredients, frying with high heat to rip off customers.
Of course!
Old Chen never suspected Master Fox, in his traditional image, Master Fox is an ultimate bandit making a living with guns and international tax-free business, how could he possibly care about the meager profits from selling tea.
He should have seen this method before, only then he could replicate it in Changxi Town.
"Master Fox's tea should be stable, as long as the tea temperature isn't reduced, fragrance isn't reduced, it can get to at least the top five places..."
[Only passing initial rounds is enough, you help me register this tea under Ah Qing's name, together with Old Deng's tea leaves, both for the tea competition! Anyway, they are from the same tea garden, just different tea masters, certification can use the same.]
Ansheng let out a long sigh.
Ridiculous.... directly could even use as essence.
Should it be said... true to a fox spirit?
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