In the complex spectrum of Chinese teas, Lu'an Melon Seed Tea is very special. On one hand, it is the only leaf tea without buds or stems, with a harvesting period limited to just over ten days around Grain Rain, and its production area is confined to a radius of several dozen kilometers around Qitou Mountain in western Anhui. On the other hand, the processing technique of Lu'an Melon Seed Tea is extremely complex, lasting up to a week, and particularly emphasizes the mastery of roasting heat: one degree of aging makes it bitter, one degree of under-processing makes it astringent. In shaping the tea leaves, great effort is put into the craftsmanship, so that after brewing, they look like emerald green melon seed slices, hence the name.
Even today, the production of Melon Seed Tea still requires a large amount of manual labor, which keeps costs high. Some enthusiasts have counted over 80 references to Lu'an Melon Seed Tea in Dream of the Red Chamber, but in reality, this tea is not widely circulated, as if it only exists in novels and imagination.
[Plucking]
Unlike other teas, the plucking of Melon Seed Tea is extremely meticulous: only the tenderest leaves are picked, neither buds nor stems are taken, and at most five or six leaves can be harvested from a single branch. From a plucking technique perspective, Melon Seed Tea is the only tea where each leaf is picked individually.
Every year at the end of March, tea plants begin to sprout new buds after the winter dormant period; in early April, the first leaf unfolds from the bud; by early April, the second leaf appears; in mid-April, the third leaf grows; by the time the fourth leaf appears, it should be around Grain Rain, April 20th. When the fourth leaf emerges, the pickers gently pluck the second leaf.
The first leaf is discarded because it has been wrapped around the bud for a long time and has already become tough by the time it unfurls. At this time, the second leaf has just unfolded, about 3 cm in length, rich in nutrients and tender, making it perfect for picking. Meanwhile, the tea plant, having accumulated nutrients over the year, imparts unique essence to the new leaves.
After picking the second leaf, one or two days later, the third leaf is fully grown and ready for picking, and so on. As temperatures rise, the leaves age faster. Thus, among all the fresh leaves, the second leaf is considered the finest and most precious, traditionally called "Melon Seed." The first leaf is called "Tippy Leaf," the third and fourth leaves are called "Plum Leaf," and the bud is called "Silver Needle."
The golden picking period for Melon Seed Tea is just over ten days around Grain Rain; once the Beginning of Summer (around May 5th) passes, temperatures rise quickly, and the leaves rapidly become tough. It can be said that after Beginning of Summer, there is no Melon Seed Tea. At that point, picking no longer requires such meticulous care, and the leaves can be stripped by hand.
The weather during the picking season is also crucial; it must not rain, as excessive moisture in the leaves can cause fermentation. If the weather becomes hot too quickly, the new leaves age faster, shortening the picking period significantly.
Plucking tea is a skilled task: the leaves must be gently pinched off without damage, and the stems must not be broken. A worker, working twelve hours a day, can average only 3 to 4 jin (1.5 to 2 kg) of fresh leaves; the fastest and most skilled worker can only manage an extra jin. Typically, 4 to 5 jin of fresh leaves are needed to produce 1 jin of dried Melon Seed Tea, so a single day's work by one worker cannot even yield one jin of tea.
[Leaf Sorting]
The traditional plucking method for Melon Seed Tea differs from today's practice; in the past, pickers would snap off a branch with four or five leaves, then there was an extra step called "leaf sorting" — after bringing the branches home, the leaves were individually stripped from the stems and sorted by tenderness. Tender and older leaves were then killed by heat at different temperatures, while the buds could be made into Maojian, or the buds and stems could be processed for personal consumption.
Nowadays, the "leaf sorting" process is largely abandoned, partly because it requires extra labor, and partly because sorting is done earlier, during the picking stage, to ensure each leaf is at its optimal tenderness.
Freshly picked leaves have no aroma; after about 10 hours of withering, they begin to emit a light floral and fruity fragrance. During withering, the leaves must not be exposed to direct sunlight, the floor must be well-ventilated, and the leaves should not be piled too thickly; if possible, they should be turned over.
The emphasis on fire control during fresh leaf processing is a major feature of Melon Seed Tea making. It can even be said that only through this can Melon Seed Tea truly be called Melon Seed Tea.
[Kill-Green (Raw Pan and Cooked Pan)]
The first process is kill-green, which is the initial drying of the fresh leaves. Unlike other green teas, Melon Seed Tea's kill-green process uses two pans in sequence: first the raw pan, then the cooked pan. The diameter of the tea frying pan is about 80 cm, and the stove top is slanted at about 25 to 35 degrees. The tool used is a "tea broom" made of fine bamboo strips or sorghum tassels, resembling a small flat broom. The stove is heated with firewood; the raw pan temperature is between 100 and 120 degrees Celsius.
About 2 liang (100 grams) of fresh leaves are put in, ensuring every leaf touches the bottom of the pan. The temperature is right when the fresh leaves crackle like sesame seeds in hot oil; if it is too high, the leaves will scorch. While frying in the raw pan, the worker holds the broom handle palm-up, pushing the leaves in a constant rotation inside the pan, while simultaneously lifting and tossing them.
After about 1 to 2 minutes in the raw pan, the leaves begin to soften and darken, reducing their moisture content to about 60%. Then the leaves from the raw pan are swept directly into the adjacent cooked pan. The cooked pan temperature is lower, about 70 to 80 degrees Celsius.
Frying in the cooked pan requires high skill. Its purpose is to shape the leaves — using the tea broom to beat the leaf edges so that both sides fold backward into a melon seed shape, much like folding a paper airplane. However, all this is done inside the frying pan using the tea broom, requiring the tea master to have extensive experience. Melon Seed Tea gets its name from this shape; if the shaping in the cooked pan fails, the tea's grade will be greatly reduced.
The tea master beats the leaves while frying, forming them into pieces; tender leaves are beaten lightly, while older leaves require slightly more force to make the edges fold backward. Frying in the cooked pan not only shapes the leaves but also serves as "rolling," enhancing the tea's aroma. This process takes about 5 minutes, during which the leaves turn a dark green color and the moisture content further decreases to about 35%.
[Roasting]
After the two kill-green stages, the tea enters the drying and roasting phase, which directly determines the tea's taste and aroma. The roasting of Melon Seed Tea is divided into three stages: First Fire, Medium Fire, and Strong Fire.
Usually, the tea farmer proceeds immediately to "First Fire" after the cooked pan kill-green. The fuel for roasting should be the finest chestnut charcoal, with absolutely no smoke, otherwise the tea will have a smoky taste. For First Fire, a small bamboo roasting basket is used, shaped like a wide-brimmed hat with a cylindrical skirt to contain the flames. Each basket holds about 3 jin of the cooked tea leaves, with the top temperature at about 100 degrees Celsius; the leaves are turned every 2 to 3 minutes, and removed when about 80% dry. After the First Fire, the leaves are already quite dry, with a moisture content of no more than 20%, and the color changes from dark green to bright green, with the leaf edges folded backward, resembling slender melon seeds.
The tea after First Fire is called "crude tea." During the day, the farmer picks the leaves, and that same evening, they must go through the kill-green and First Fire stages, often working until midnight. If the leaves are not processed promptly, they may ferment. After the crude tea is made, it is placed in a large bamboo basket to remove misshapen or discolored leaves. After sorting, the crude tea can be sold to the tea factory, where it is graded and priced. During the tea season, villages and towns hold night tea markets, meaning farmers can bring their crude tea to trade even at midnight.
The subsequent two stages — Medium Fire and Strong Fire — are completed by the tea factory.
Medium Fire takes place the day after First Fire. Each small roasting basket holds 5 to 6 jin of crude tea, baked over charcoal flames; the temperature at the top of the basket is about 20 degrees Celsius higher than during First Fire, reaching up to 120 degrees Celsius. A tea master continuously turns the leaves until a clear aroma emerges, at which point the leaf moisture content drops to about 10%.
After Medium Fire, the tea is placed in bamboo baskets and left to rest for 3 to 5 days. In tea-making terminology, this is called "releasing green" or "fatigue recovery." Since the moisture content in the leaf veins is higher than in the leaf blades, after several rounds of frying and roasting, the blades are mostly dry, while the veins still retain moisture. This resting period allows the veins to release moisture, making the moisture distribution throughout the tea leaf more even, which facilitates the next roasting stage.
Strong Fire is the final stage of Melon Seed Tea processing and is extremely critical, as it directly determines the tea's aroma, color, shape, breakage rate, and surface frost. For Strong Fire, a large roasting basket is used, about 1.5 meters in diameter, capable of holding 6 to 8 jin of tea. The temperature at the basket top continues to rise, reaching 160 to 180 degrees Celsius. About 80 jin of charcoal are tightly packed to form a large, strong fire with flames over a foot high, creating intense and even heat.
Under normal production cycles, from picking to finished product, Melon Seed Tea takes about a week. Due to its thorough drying, with a moisture content of about 6% (lower than other teas), the yield rate is also relatively low: on average, 4.5 jin of fresh leaves produce 1 jin of dry tea.
Picking Melon Seed Tea can only be done by hand, leaf by leaf. The processes of kill-green, First Fire, Medium Fire, and Strong Fire also depend on manual operation and the judgment of experienced workers.