The gray and black hues of the rocks blanket the landscape. Vast mountains and forests, coupled with scarce water resources, yet the deep green of the cornfields and the robust green of the ancient tea trees stand out. Perhaps this is why the unique aroma and flavor of Lung Phin tea always carry an air of mystery. Even a single taste is unforgettable!
The slender tea plants, with their sturdy taproots piercing through layers of rock, absorb minerals to nourish their sparse yet robust and thick foliage. Standing beneath these ancient tea trees, one can still see the sky, sometimes clear blue, sometimes a cold gray. Sunlight slants across the mountains, hanging lazily on the treetops, filtering through each leaf. At night, dew and the cool air from the rocks envelop the tea plants. For hundreds of years, Lung Phin tea has remained faithful, sharing the hardships with the rocky mountains.
The Hmong people in Lung Phin have lived alongside tea plants for generations, developing their own unique tea-making methods. They never harvest the tea buds like in other tea-growing regions. They wait until the buds have fully developed into tender leaves before gently picking them. The fire used for roasting the tea comes from the stalks of corn that have already been harvested. This fuel creates a flame that flares up like twinkling stars, then dies down, leaving just enough warmth to dry the tea leaves until they are fragrant and shimmer with a golden hue from the minerals. It's truly special!
Early this morning, beside a warm cup of Lung Phin tea with its deep, sweet flavor, listening to the tea's aroma evoking distant memories from ancient rocky forests, we contemplated so much. On the land of Vietnam, no other tea plant possesses such a miraculous and resilient life as Lung Phin tea!
(Entry for the "Impressions on Vietnamese Coffee and Tea" contest, part of the "Celebrating Vietnamese Coffee and Tea" program, 2nd edition, 2024, organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper).
Graphics: CHI PHAN
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