Don Mei: Hey teaheads! This is Don from Mei Leaf. In this video: The Story of An Ji Bai
Cha. [PANNING DRONE SHOT] Welcome to An Ji in Zhe Jiang province of China, the home of
one of China's most famous green teas - "An Ji Bai Cha". The story of An Ji Bai Chi is
a fascinating one which actually mirrors the growth of China in recent years. But, in my
opinion, it also is a story tinged with a little bit of sadness. What we're going to
do today is we're going to explain, and dive deeper, into An Ji Bai cha so that you know
more about this tea, get up close and personal with how it's made, and then we're going to
be trying to ask the ultimate question: Is it worth the extremely high price tag? [DRONE
SEQUENCE WITH MUSIC]
Field workers: [CHINESE LANGUAGE]
Don: The story of An Ji Bai Cha is actually ancient, despite it being a modern tea. Emperor
Hui Zong - way back in the Song dynasty - apparently wrote that his favorite tea variety was a
white, sprouting tea plant around this area. Now everyone thought that that was a legend,
until recently - the 1930s supposedly - a farmer discovered a tea plant with those very
pale-green, light, sprouting buds. And in the early 80s the "Zhe Jiang Tea Group" started
to cultivate from this "mother tree". Amazingly, all of the tea plants that you see around
me here - stretching for miles and miles around; not only in this province, but in other provinces
- are all descendents from this one mother plant, which is still alive.. The variety
is called the "Bai Ye Yi Hao" variety, and this is why An Ji Bai Cha is called "Bai Cha"
- which means "white tea". This is not a white tea. It is a green tea. But because of the
fact that the buds have this very pale color to them it is called An Ji "white tea". You
can see next to me - I'm standing, obviously, next to a "Bai Ye Yi Hao" variety - and you
can see that the bud and the first leaf here is generally more pale than your average tea
plant. This is why the picking window for this tea is so short, because as the temperature
rises the leaves will become greener, and greener, and greener, and the characteristic
color and flavor of An Ji Bai Cha will no longer be apparent in those later pickings.
Supposedly, the temperature threshold is 23 degrees [Celsius], although I'm sure that
there's variations there. But anything above that sort of temperature and the plant goes
to green. This plant is perfectly suited to this area of An Ji. This is its native origin.
However, they are producing An Ji Bai Cha styled tea in other areas - other provinces
- of China; not only in Zhe Jiang, but also in Gui Zhou, in Si Chuan and other areas - to
pretty good effect, I have to say, although An Xi is always going to be this tea's ancestral
home. [SHOT OF TEA FIELD] I'm surrounded by pickers who are busy, hard at work, because
it is prime-time now. We're here at the end of March. The picking window for this type
of tea is very, very short. They start picking around the 20th to the 25th of March, and
they end a month later. You cannot pick An Ji Bai Cha after that time, because the leaves
become too green, and the flavor becomes too grassy. They will pick, usually, about three
times during that time, because the plant takes about seven days for it to grow again
and have the right picking for this tea. So [it's] early spring picking, preferably "pre-Qing
Ming", [which is] before the 4th of April. [LOCAL LANGUAGE] The picking on An Ji Bai
Cha is very, very fine. [It's a] bud and one leaf, ideally, although a bud and two [leaves]
can just cut it, as long as that second leaf is very, very fine. Ideally, you want the
bud and the leaf to be [of] very, very similar size, and very, very plump. I'm going to try
to show you this leaf here. [CLOSE UP] So you can see [it's] a very similar size, in
terms of length, and very, very plump. [It's] got that really lovely, light sheen to it.
So that's the picking. Again, with this type of tea [and] with this sort of name and branding,
it's very important that the picking is ultra, ultra detailed. We're surrounded by very,
very skilled workers that are carefully plucking these buds and leaves, and making sure that
they get exactly the right pickings for this expensive tea. [SEQUENCE OF WORKERS ROUINE]
The sun is getting low, and it's five o'clock. All of the pickers are coming back in to deliver
their precious cargo, and now they have to work throughout the night to process these
leaves. If they leave the leaves then they will start to go red very, very quickly, and
the tea will be ruined. So there's no rest, [and] they work 24 hours a day, working through
the night. And all of this contributes to the price of An Ji Bai Cha, and all of these
high-end teas. The level of detail that they go through means that there is so much labour,
and it never, ever stops during this very, very short window... Let's go through the
processing for An Ji Bai Cha. It's relatively simple, so this one isn't going to take too
long. Let's go. Be careful [of] your step here. So fresh leaves come in, and immediately
they go to indoor withering. Indoor withering takes place on these long troughs, with these
sieves here, and air is pumped through to make sure that there's a good circulation
of air underneath. The withering is going to take about two hours, and they don't touch
the leaf. [They] leave it alone. So unlike other teas - where they'll move it around
- they really want to try keep this as untouched as possible. After two hours of withering
the plant becomes pliable, the leaves become pliable, and then it can go through to the
Sha Qing process. [The] Sha Qing used to take place, traditionally, over charcoal woks,
but have now been replaced here by these machines here, for a more efficient, and more uniform
Sha Qing process. The Sha Qing process starts here, at about 300 degrees Celsius for about
two minutes, and then after that they turn the temperature down to between 250 and 280
degrees [Celsius] for a further six minutes. And during that process this machine just
goes back and forth, and shapes the leaf into that long, uniform shape which is classic
for the An Ji Bai Cha. [It's] very similar to a Mao Feng shape. [It's a] very, very simple,
straight-shaped leaf, [where] no rolling takes place. Again, traditionally, after the Sha
Qing process it would go through a rolling phase to bring all the essential oils up into
the air, and that will mean that you're going to get a very rich fragrance when you brew
the tea. Unfortunately, in my opinion, that doesn't happen in An Ji county anymore. For
efficiency’s sake, to get the tea to market as quickly as possible, they don't do that
anymore. So what happens is that after the Sha Qing process, and shaping process, has
taken place, they will lift up this machine, and it will go along this conveyor belt here,
and it will come fresh out here. You can see. So this is freshly Sha Qing'd leaf. [It's
a] beautiful, very, very straight shape. You can see [it's] extremely straight - [a] very,
very uniform shape. And as is customary, I've got to get my nose in here [SMELLS TEA]. It
smells very much like lightly-baked sweet corn; [with a] very, very nice slightly toasted
note. What they'll do then is that they'll start to load them up into these ovens here,
[and] they will not heat it for about 10 minutes. So they'll leave it for about 10 minutes,
and what they want to do is just allow some moisture to come back into the leaf, because
the outside of the leaf will become very toasted and dry. So they're going to leave it for
10 minutes to cool down, regain some moisture, and then it goes into these ovens and they
oven-bake it twice - the first time at 100 degrees [Celsius] for 12 minutes, and the
second time at 85 degrees for 10 minutes. After that the tea is pretty much ready. All
they need to do is sort it out, get rid of any fannings, get rid of anything that might
look like it's caught too much heat, and that's it. [It's] ready to go to market. That's how
you make An Ji Bai Cha...
[Worker] This is a foreigner worker.
Everyone: [LAUGHTER]
Don: [TO CELINE] What are you doing?
Celine: What?
Don: What are you doing?
Celine: I'm sifting through .I'm actually finding the big leaves, [to take] them out,
but I don't know what to do when I see one like this [LAUGHTER], that's still attached
to a little bud.
Don: [Pluck it].
Celine: Fix it?
Don: Yeah.
Celine: The leaves are fresh out of the oven, [and] they're looking amazing. [They're a]
beautiful shape, [with] incredible color, all very, very straight, [with] nothing singed,
nothing dark. The smell [SMELLS TEA]... Oh! [SMELLS TEA] [It's sweet], like cookie dough
and cotton candy, [SMELLS TEA] mixed with coconut and green bamboo. [It's a] very, very,
very specific aroma. [It's] gorgeous. So what happens next is that it needs to be sorted
out. The larger leaves, [and] the lighter leaves, need to be sorted out. The best way
to do that is through this method, which is used all around the provinces of China. [It's
a] very skilled process, where you flick - up and down - the leaf, and the lighter ones
just fly a bit further, and you can see that all of this stuff gets collected. These are
the larger leaves. So it's a really efficient way of sorting, but I have to say [that] the
skill of doing that is much more difficult than it seems. So this lady is doing that.
Before that her grandmother here, [who's] 88 years old - 88 years old - before this
stage is just sorting out, and taking out, the larger leaves that she can see. You can
see that there are generations of tea-workers here. [At] 88 years old she's still flicking
through the teas and helping out. [That's] remarkable [and] admirable. I hope that I'm
going to be doing similar things, and have the same "joie de vivre" in my late 80s...
As you've just seen, the processing for An Ji Bai Cha is very, very particular, and they're
using machinery, and it's a little bit sad that they're taking away some of the traditional
techniques, such as charcoal-roasting, and rolling the leaf. Don't forget that An Ji
Bai Cha is a very famous sort of "brand" of green tea, and there's a particular look that
everyone's going for. And I feel that in many ways the processing is designed for making
sure that every leaf looks right, and that they can maximize yield, by making sure that
there aren't any mistakes, and having consistency. [That's] all good, but my problem is when
you start to sacrifice creativity, craftsmanship, and flavor, especially with the rolling. The
rolling of the leaf is really, really great at bringing out extra fragrance and extra
flavor. We know that. And it's always sad when I see that those kinds of techniques
are being sacrificed for the sake of looks, and for the sake of consistency of a particular
style and shape of leaf. But that's the way it is. Until consumers out there start to
demand for rolled tea, and charcoal-roasted tea, this will be the trend for An Ji Bai
Cha. [DRONE SHOT] [I'm] sitting in the plantations, drinking tea which has literally been freshly
made, freshly sorted, put into a glass [and] filled with water, the leaves look incredible,
[with] that distinctive pal, pale yellow-green color that is so alluring, and is the definition
of An Ji Bai Cha. I'm going to try not to allow the surroundings to affect my taste,
however hard or impossible that may be. [SIPS TEA] Ah, [it's] so sweet - cotton candy sweet,
[with] pineapple. [SIPS TEA] It's got a slight soy milk nuttiness to it, but [SIPS TEA] the
predominance is this lingering - really lingering - long aftertaste, "Hui Gan" sweetness. [There's]
a little touch of astringency moving to sweetness, and the sweetness is really, really [like]
cotton candy [and] pineapples. [SIPS TEA] [There's] some other note, [like] maybe guava
in there as well. It's simple [and] elegant, yet so delicious - so incredibly delicious
and refreshing. [SIPS TEA] Wow! What a tea. After tasting that delicious tea I had to
try to get my hands on some of it. Most of the tea is already sold out on pre-order to
that inner circle of tea connoisseurs that purchase all the top, top, top shelf tea before
it could possibly leave the shores of China. This is what we do. This is how we roll. We
try to get in there and steal the tea out before it can reach that market. Luckily,
we were here on picking day, and processing day. This is "first flush"; the first pickings
of the year, of "top shelf" An Ji Bai Cha. We managed to negotiate a deal for a small
quantity of tea so that you teaheads out there can try some. So, now the question: Is An
Ji Bai Cha worth the price tag? Bear in mind that the price tag for this tea [is sort of]
starting... For top-end An Ji Bai Cha you're sort of looking at around $60 [US] dollars
per 100 grams of retail. That's your sort of starting point. Anything much lower than
that [I would suggest] it's not authentic, or [not] really, really early pickings, [or
even] An Ji. It's a lot of money to spend on a tea, especially a tea which is so simply,
yet [SIPS TEA] the taste is something that you will keep going back to. I've spoken to
the producers here, and they say that every year there is no problem. They will sell out
of this tea. In fact, most of the tea is sold privately, to private tea buyers, on WeChat
groups, which are essentially like closed WhatsApp groups where this inner circle of
tea connoisseurs are already bidding and buying tea, before they've even tasted it, just on
the look. So you can see the demand for this tea is massive, and that is because the brand
"An Ji Bai Cha" is so famed. I'm not saying that these tea-lovers are not enjoying the
tea, and loving the tea, but a lot of it is the brand, the cache, [and] the ability to
say that you have got the authentic, top-whack, top-grade An Ji Bai Cha sitting in your cupboard,
or gifting it to your friends. So there is a "snob value", for sure. There is a very
strong brand here, and that is boosting up the price. You can get incredible teas for
something similar to that, [or] even lower than this price, but if you've got the money
[SIPS TEA] and you love green tea, there is nothing like a super-sweet, delicate, and
delicious An Ji Bai Cha. It is a beautiful, beautiful tea. [It's] incredible. I think
it is worth the price if you've got the money, and you love those light, fresh, sweet green
teas, but don't take your eyes off other teas out there that may not have such a famous
brand. That's it teaheads. check out our other videos. Fire over any questions, comments,
or video ideas. Other than that, I'm Don from Mei Leaf. Thank you for being a part of the
revelation of "true tea". Stay away from those teabags, keep drinking the supreme stuff,
and spread the word, because nobody deserves bad tea. Bye [WAVING]