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Thesis
Section 5 is not really about “凡炙茶慎勿于风烬间炙熛焰如钻使炎凉不均持以逼”; it is about how Lu Yu turns tea from a local product into an object of argument.
Text
“When roasting the tea, beware of roasting over a windy ash-fire, where leaping flames make the heat uneven. Hold it near the fire and turn it again and again, until bumps rise like toad-backs, then move it five inches from the fire.”
Context
炙茶：烤茶饼。风烬：有风的灰烬。熛焰（biāo yàn）：飞腾的火焰。培塿（péi lǒu）：小土丘。蟆背：蟾蜍背。
Evidence
- Collation: 各本一致。吴觉农注：炙茶为唐代煮茶前置工序，烤出"蟆背"即火候恰好。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农指出"炙茶"是唐代特有工序：饼茶须先烤软、再碾末，烤至"蟆背"出香而不焦——此"文火慢烤"之法，与今人醒茶、焙香异曲同工。
Analysis
Formally, the section gives a judgment, adds material detail, then returns to human practice. 炙茶：烤茶饼。风烬：有风的灰烬。熛焰（biāo yàn）：飞腾的火焰。培塿（péi lǒu）：小土丘。蟆背：蟾蜍背。 That is why the Classic of Tea reads as an argued book rather than a miscellany.
Conclusion
The section does not give a universal rule. It demonstrates a method: read the text, the annotation and the Tang context together before making a modern claim.
Source: The Classic of Tea, Chapter V · The Brewing, section 5; the original is in the public domain.
Get the character right before the taste.