Golao Silver Needle

Golao Silver Needle

　　Golao Silver Needle is a specialty of Golao Town, Heshan City, Jiangmen, Guangdong Province. The quality characteristics of Golao Silver Needle include tightly rolled, round, and needle-like strips; a silvery-gray color with visible fuzz; a high, pure, and long-lasting aroma; a mellow and sweet aftertaste; a bright green liquor; and tender, even, and uniform leaves.

　　Golao tea is produced in areas such as Lishui, Chashan, Maishui, and Xialu in Golao Town, Heshan City, Guangdong Province. The region enjoys a warm climate, with an average annual temperature of 21.8°C, virtually no frost throughout the year, and annual rainfall of around 1,800 millimeters. The water vapor from the river evaporates, creating a misty atmosphere and humid air, forming a “high mountain climate environment” on the hills. Tea gardens are shaded by banyan trees, with grass coverings on the tea fields, deep soil layers, fertile land, and rich content of organic matter and minerals, making it highly suitable for tea tree growth.

　　Golao tea mainly consists of two types: “Golao Tea” and “Golao Silver Needle.” Golao Silver Needle is the premium variety of Golao tea, with the “Cuìyán Silver Needle” produced in Lishui being the highest in quality. The silver needle tea was already renowned in the early Qing Dynasty (1644–1735), when the folk song “True goodness to pick, marry into Lishui” was popular. By the Guangxu period (1870s), Golao tea was nearing collapse, and silver needle tea was almost lost. It wasn’t until the 1950s that this ancient, historically famous tea was revived and regained its vitality.

　　Golao tea is harvested from the local Golao tea tree, which comes in two varieties: green sprout type and red sprout type. The former is called green bud, while the latter is called red bud. Tea made from red sprout-type fresh leaves has a low aroma, whereas tea made from green sprout-type fresh leaves has a clear and high fragrance. Golao Silver Needle is mostly processed from green sprout-type fresh leaves. Based on quality, the silver needle tea is divided into three grades: premium Golao Silver Needle, regular Golao Silver Needle, and Golao Green Tea. Premium Golao Silver Needle is also known as Sparrow Tongue Tea, harvested around the Spring Equinox. The picking standard is one bud and one leaf just beginning to unfold, with bud and leaf length of 1.5–2.0 cm, yellow-green buds, and abundant fuzz, referred to as “Snow Valley Sprouts.” Regular Golao Silver Needle is harvested around the Qingming Festival, with a picking standard of one bud and two leaves just beginning to unfold, dark green in color, called Black Bud. Golao Green Tea is picked at the standard of one bud and two or three leaves, known as “Split Bud.”

　　Golao Silver Needle is hand-fried. The main processes include spreading, fixing, rolling, pan-firing, and baking.

　　Spreading: The purpose is to dissipate surface moisture from the buds and leaves. After a short period of thin spreading, once the surface moisture is gone, the fixing process begins.

　　Fixing: When the wok temperature reaches 150–200°C, about 700 grams of spread leaves are added, mainly using a tossing method. When the leaves become soft, their surface gloss disappears, and the stems bend without breaking, they are removed from the wok and allowed to cool.

　　Rolling and Pan-Firing: This takes place in the wok. The goal is to shape the tea and evaporate moisture. At around 80°C, about 700 grams of cooled leaves are added. The tea leaves are placed between both palms and gently rolled and rubbed from top to bottom, simultaneously evaporating moisture while rolling the leaves tight, straight, and round. The force applied gradually increases from light to heavy. When the tea strips are round and needle-like, with visible fuzz and a moisture content of 30–35%, the wok temperature is reduced to 50–60°C for pan-firing. During pan-firing, the motion should be gentle to keep the buds and leaves intact. When the shape is fixed and a rustling sound is heard, the drying process begins. Drying can be done directly in the wok or by removing the leaves and baking them in a drying basket until fully dry.

　　Historically, the fried and rolled Golao rough tea was placed in a drum heated to over 300°C and stir-fried. The ideal point was when the tea emitted a scorched aroma and crumbled easily when rubbed by hand. As described in the *Tongjun Lu*, “Take it as crushed tea to drink.” Because of its unique high-fire aroma, Golao tea is also known as “Spark Aroma Tea.” It features the characteristics of a smoky taste in the first brew, a sugary aroma emerging in the second, a refreshing feeling in the third, and remaining mellow in subsequent brews. Yuan Dynasty poet Yelü Chucai praised Lingnan tea in a poem: “The noble one gifted me Lingnan tea, I reveled as flying petals veiled my cart; three cups of jade-like tea brewed with tender sprouts, a single green flag leaf ground with fresh buds.” The quality characteristics of Golao Silver Needle include tightly rolled, round, and needle-like strips; a silvery-gray color with visible fuzz; a high, pure, and long-lasting aroma; a mellow and sweet aftertaste; a bright green liquor; and tender, even, and uniform leaves.