Green tea from Nghe An

Nowadays, green tea is quite popular in many places. Although it is far away, but every time I sip some green tea brewed properly with Nghe, my heart is filled with memories. Perhaps green tea originates from Nghe An, and perhaps it is the most flavorful and memorable here. Poet Huy Can has a very profound and touching verse:

"Oh Nghe An eggplant

The saltier the crispier

Green tea from Nghe An

The more sour, the better"

Nghe An is a fairly large land, but it is mainly semi-mountainous land, high land with little fertility. That hot and dry land is cooled, "cooled down" by a type of tree, which is green tea. Nghe An green tea grows best on sloping land, highland forests. Green tea is best suited to gravelly clay soil. The tea trees there are not lush, do not have luxuriant branches and shoots, but in return the leaves are thick, dark green and crispy. That tea is suitable for drinking fresh green tea.

In addition to the dry land, the weather in Nghe An is equally harsh. In the summer, the Lao wind blows fiercely, drying up all the plants, but the green tea tree seems to be even harder and thicker. Perhaps nature has tested this plant. The harsher the land and sky, the richer, greener, and more delicious the tea leaves become. That is probably why it is called green tea. On hot days, people seem to be parched. That is the best and most enjoyable time to drink green tea. People in Nghe An socialize by drinking green tea. It is called drinking “new water”. In the community, people often take turns inviting each other to drink “new water”. That is the first green tea. The second tea is called “walking tea”, which is not as delicious.

In the past, agricultural cultivation capacity was low, so growing green tea was not as easy as it is now. People in the midland mountains grew green tea and brought it to the lowland plains to sell as a difficult and arduous way of making a living. I remember that not everyone dared to spend money to buy green tea to drink regularly. Therefore, the opportunity to invite each other to drink "new water" was very precious and appreciated. Farmers in the summer, after a hard and tiring day of farming, could drink green tea like people today drink energy drinks, but it was also poetic, because of the aroma, because of the stories from heaven and earth. When tired, farmers often added a little molasses to the bowl of green tea. These two things seemed to go together in terms of color and flavor (nowadays green tea in shops often adds fresh ginger flavor). Green tea mixed with molasses has a thicker, darker yellow color, and has a sweet and fragrant taste. Country people considered this water as a tonic, a energizer, and a health restorer. For "deputy" farmers, drinking green tea regularly became an addiction. Carpenters, sawyers, masons, especially blacksmiths in Nghe An must have green tea to drink all day. Blacksmiths spend all day with bellows, hammers, next to the red-hot coal stove, breathing in toxic gas. Without green tea, they cannot work. They consider a bowl of green tea no longer a means of quenching thirst or entertainment, but a source of vitality. Blacksmiths believe that drinking green tea "fills the lungs". In those days, only blacksmiths drank green tea freely. Customers from all over the world always used the blacksmith's house as a place to drink tea and chat. Therefore, the blacksmith's house at that time was like the information center of the whole village and commune, from business, men and women, to national affairs, and world affairs. Everything was around the pot of green tea.

To have a pot of authentic Nghe An green tea, you also need to brew it in a traditional way. The tea leaves are best old, thick and crispy, and dark green. Do not drink young, fresh tea like today. Wash the tea, drain, wait for the water to boil, then knead it thoroughly by hand, and put it in a large earthenware pot. Absolutely do not knead the tea too early, because if you knead the tea leaves, waiting too long will make them rancid, and the water will not be delicious. Next, pour boiling water over the tea leaves and pour it away to rinse the tea. Rinsing the tea is very important, it both warms the entire pot and removes the smell of the tea. Finally, pour boiling water over the tea leaves, and put them in a heat-retaining pot. Green tea brewed like this for about 45 minutes is ready to drink. If you drink it too early, the tea will still be "raw", smelly, not fragrant, and not astringent enough. Standard green tea water must be golden yellow, fragrant and astringent. Take a sip of tea and feel the strong aroma and astringent taste lingering in the throat. Because of the hot summer days, Nghe people often drink green tea in bowls, white ceramic bowls. These bowls highlight the distinctive yellow-green color of the fresh tea, making it very eye-catching. Therefore, drinking green tea requires drinking with the mouth, nose, and eyes.

To have good green tea, perhaps the most important factor is the temperature of the water. I don't understand why the active ingredients in the tea leaves have some kind of magical change. If the tea is overcooked or put in a thermos, it will turn red like street tea, making it hard to drink. Another thing is that green tea goes bad very easily, so people often have the habit of drinking it hot, even in the middle of a hot summer afternoon. That's why when the pot of green tea is still full, if you add boiling water, it will go bad and ruin the whole pot.

In contrast to freshly brewed green tea, re-boiled green tea (street tea) is a low-grade drink, red in color, and has lost its aroma and color. The ancient people of Nghe An have a saying: "Reheated tea, girls take a nap", which is an inelegant thing...