東方美人茶製茶之旅

在端午節前，有幸到苗栗新竹一帶實地參訪東方美人茶的製程，東方美人茶又稱白毫烏龍茶、膨風茶及香檳烏龍茶。屬於烏龍茶，其製作工法與其他烏龍茶類似，最大的不同在於其發酵程度是半發酵青茶中最重的茶品。茶葉改良場公佈的發酵度為60%，而新竹苗栗地區茶農所製的發酵度則大多高達75－85%之間，接近紅茶的發酵程度但仍屬於烏龍茶，為台灣最特殊之名茶，全世界只有台灣有生產，其特殊香氣主要是因為製茶的幼嫩芽受到小綠葉蟬吸食後產生特殊的蜂蜜香或熟果香。

其命名由來眾說紛紜，整理了一般常見的民間流傳，有下列數種：
1. 東方美人茶之所以被稱為 膨風茶，是相傳有茶農因為所種植茶樹受到蟲害，但不甘損失，仍將受蟲咬的茶葉至城裡販賣，但因為風味特殊而生意大好，其回鄉後向他人提及此事，竟被說為在吹牛，從此之後便以膨風茶為名。

2. 據說戰後初期曾任新竹縣北埔鄉長的姜阿新，在日治時期參加茶展，因其風味特殊，所以當時台灣總督府以一擔（100斤）2000日圓的高價收購，此消息傳回被地方人士斥為膨風，後來經由報紙證實，膨風茶之名才傳遍千里，流傳至今。後又被文人雅士改稱為椪風茶。

3. 相傳百年前，英國的茶商將膨風茶上呈給英國維多利亞女王，因沖泡後茶湯橙紅明亮，色澤五彩相間且艷麗，品嘗後女王讚不絕口而賜名東方美人。

4. 早期膨風茶的毛茶運抵大稻埕茶棧，出口前需在「番庄館」再經過一道烘焙與揀茶的精製過程，故舊稱為番庄烏龍。

東方美人茶的採收期在夏季六、七月，通常是端午節前後10天，茶樹的嫩芽被小綠葉蟬咬食之後長出的茶芽，稱為「著涎」的茶菁，而「著涎」的程度越多則的

茶葉品質越佳。經手工採摘一心二葉，再以傳統技術精製而成高級烏龍茶，製茶過程的特點是：炒菁後，需多一道以布包裹，置入竹簍或鐵桶內的「靜置回潤」或稱「回軟」的二度發酵程序，再進行揉捻、解塊、烘乾而製成毛茶。之後進行分級、精製焙火、揀茶、包裝等過程，可是相當耗費人力的呢！

製作的茶種依產地有所不同：新竹與苗栗一帶以「青心大有」為主要生產茶種，而坪林、石碇則以「青心烏龍」為主。其商品名稱也因為產地的不同而有所區分：在新竹北埔鄉，稱為「膨風茶」或「椪風茶」；於新竹峨嵋鄉，名為「東方美人茶」；於苗栗縣頭屋鄉與三灣鄉，則沿用舊稱「番庄烏龍」；在石碇地區則以「石碇美人茶」或「文山椪風茶」做為商品推廣名稱。

上等的東方美人茶其茶形特徵為：茶芽肥大、白毫顯露，茶色澤五彩相間且鮮艷，茶湯為橙紅明亮的琥珀色，帶有濃濃的熟果香或蜂蜜香，茶味甜且甘醇。

附帶一提的是，由於要讓小綠葉蟬自然啃食過後的嫩芽才可作為東方美人茶的茶菁，所以茶園都不能夠噴灑農藥，否則小綠葉蟬也無法生存啦！由此可知東方美人茶是無農藥，尚天然的喔！(難怪上品的價格不斐呢!)

The History of Taiwan Tea

The tea consumed by the Taiwanese was first imported from mainland China—primarily from the provinces of southern Jiangsu and Fujian—during the Ming and Ching dynasties. At that time, the majority of Taiwan’s tea drinkers were people with wealth, power, or scholarly backgrounds. During the Japanese occupation, Uji tea began to be imported from Japan, adding influential and wealthy Japanese to the list of tea consumers in Taiwan. After Taiwan’s retrocession to the Republic of China, mainland teas were available on the market, making it a drink for the masses. However, during the early stages, local Taiwan teas were produced mainly for export purposes, and it was not until the 1970s that the tea market slowly began to be turned inward to meet local demand.

In 1906, during the Japanese occupation, black tea began to be exported alongside oolong and baozhong tea. At the same time, the Taiwan Governor’s Office began to assist private organizations, such as the Taiwan Tea Business-men’s Association, to introduce the beauty of Taiwan tea to the rest of the world through the establishment of teashops at international fairs. With the beautifully designed posters advertising Taiwan tea at those fairs, the elegant packaging of Taiwan tea products, and the refined and professional serving techniques of the salespeople, the global image of Taiwan tea was quickly elevated.

At the height of Taiwan’s tea exports, the private sector began to realize the importance of the domestic market. In 1973, the Taiwan Tea Promotion Team headed by Lin Fuquan began to advertise teas for domestic consumption, and the following year, the Taiwan Provincial Government’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry sponsored a provincial tea exhibition in Xindian. Through the collaboration of county governments in tea-producing areas, farmers’ associations, and the mass media, a stable foundation was created for promoting tea on the domestic market. On August 14, 1977, the Chinese Kung Fu Teahouse, the forerunner of Taiwan’s modern teahouses, was established. Before long, teahouses were sprouting up everywhere like bamboo shoots after a spring rain shower, and throughout the 1980s, these local teahouses slowly organized into associations devoted to the promotion of tea culture.

Under the joined efforts of the government, tea farmers’ associations, tea manufacturers’ associations, teahouse associations, teahouses, and tea scholars, domestic tea consumption was gradually transformed into a contemporary and flourishing artistic tea culture. On ordinary days, these organizations and individuals worked hard at their own respective jobs. However, when it came time to host a cultural activity on tea, they would divide the labor, cooperate with each other, and work together to portray an image of the art of Taiwan tea that fully demonstrated its elegance.

(http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/culture/art_tea/)

茶葉的分類與製程

台灣的地理、氣候及環境非常適合茶樹生長，是有名的茶葉產區，所產製的茶葉包括綠茶、包種茶、烏龍茶及紅茶等，其中尤以包種茶及烏龍茶更是馳名世界。若將茶葉以製茶過程之發酵程度區分，可分為三種茶：
1.不發酵茶：綠茶、煎茶、碧羅春、龍井茶
2.部分發酵茶：鐵觀音、茉莉香片、文山包種、東方美人（椪風茶）、金萱、烏龍茶
3.全發酵茶：紅茶

關於茶的製造過程，流程說明如下：
一、採菁：適合製茶的葉片摘取後，稱為茶菁，準備運送到茶廠進行加工。

二、日光萎凋：將茶葉置於溫度30-40℃之日光下，使茶菁水分迅速蒸發，減少茶中水分，並使茶菁柔軟，同時催化酵素進行發酵。
三、室內萎凋：延續日光萎凋所引發之發酵作用，使茶葉繼續進行部份發酵，引發化學變化而生成特有之香氣與風味。
四、攪拌：利用攪拌機之攪動使茶菁互相碰撞，將茶菁味揮發使發酵程度加重，香味會由粗香轉為優雅之香氣。
五、炒菁：茶菁達到適合的發酵程度之後，利用高溫破壞酵素活性，讓水分大量流失便於揉捻，同時使品質趨於穩定。
六、揉捻：利用機械的力量使茶葉轉動互相摩擦，造成部份組織被破壞，汁液流出後附著在芽葉表面，乾燥凝固後便於沖泡溶解。
七、團揉：放入甲式乾燥機加溫回軟，再裝入布巾或布袋中，以布球揉捻機進行團揉。
八、乾燥：將多餘水分去除，使茶葉更緊密且不再發酵，使茶湯更加清香更容易保存。

中國品茗的歷史

飲茶始於中國，在本草中所記載的「神農嚐百草，日遇七十二毒，得茶而解之」當時茶是做為藥用。歷史上記載最早有飲茶習慣是在春秋、戰國時期，而文字的記載則是在西漢末年王褒所撰的「僮約」，證明當時社會已有飲茶習慣、專用器具，並且有買賣的商品交易行為。

唐朝與宋朝是茶葉的重要發展時期，有「茶興於唐而盛於宋」之說法，唐代中期陸羽所著的「茶經」是世界上第一部關於茶的專著，其中舉凡樹種的介紹、茶之產地、製茶的工序與器具以及飲茶的方法等均有記載。宋朝則是出現了烏龍茶，當時的產茶區域也向南移至現今閩南、武夷區域，此區域的茶稱為「建茶」，而飲茶方式「點茶」也相當接近我們現代飲用的方法。

到了明朝，在製茶技術上有很大的進步，當時的炒青茶到目前仍然是大宗茶類。明末清初相繼出現了黃茶、黑茶以及白茶等，最後出現的是晚清的紅茶，至此茶葉分為六大類：綠茶、烏龍茶、紅茶、黃茶、白茶、黑茶等。

根據歷史書籍記載，早在300餘年前在台灣便發現有茶樹，但大都是野生茶樹；然而台灣真正發展茶樹栽培管理及茶葉製造，是在200餘年前先人從福建武夷山引進茶種及種植在台灣北部開始；台灣的地理、氣候及環境非常適合茶樹生長，是世界有名的茶葉產區，所產製的茶葉包括綠茶、包種茶、烏龍茶及紅茶等，其中尤以包種茶及烏龍茶更是馳名世界。

Connoisseur Taster Analysis

Tea quality is mainly estimated by sensory evaluation. In Chihsin, sensory evaluation of Tea is very important. There are handbooks written about tea quality judgement, but it does not mean that everyone can become a connoisseur only with them.

The partially fermented tea has its unique aroma and taste. It is the most important tea in Taiwan due to not only the production yield but also its popularity. Owning to diverse geographical environment and hard-working tea farmers with continuously improved tea-making techniques, Taiwan produces many special tea from light-fermented Wen-Shan Pouchung tea to heavy- fermented Bie-How (White-tip) Oolong tea. In between, there are named Tong-Ding Oolong tea, Song-Bo-Zhang-Qing tea, High-Mountain tea, Tieh- Kuan-Yin tea, etc. Because of the diversity of Taiwan special tea, to distinguish them and their quality analysis become a necessary for the quality inspection, grading or pricing. Sensory evaluation is a main method for the tea quality analysis.

In quantitative descriptive analyses, there including floral aroma, sweet aroma, roasted aroma, ripen-fruity aroma, dried-fruity aroma, yellowness, redness, brightness, astringency, bitterness, sweetness, sourness, smooth taste, sweet aftertaste, astringent aftertaste, salivated aftertaste and aroma aftertaste. It is found that Tong-Ding Oolong tea, Song-Bo-Zhang-Qing tea, Wen-Shan Pouchung tea and High-mountain tea were quite similar due to their similar intensity of aroma. On the other hand, Tieh- Kuan-Yin and Bai-hau Oolong tea were also similar. Only difference in that the former had strongly roasted aroma and the latter had special ripen-fruity aroma.

Chishin's consultant will discusses with customers to realize the need and goals, then use our expertise in sensory evaluation of tea to provide different flavor/types tea product for our customers.

Expert Tailored Products

Chihsin's tea product covers the full spectrum of teas from green, oolong, black tea, with a speciality in Taiwanese tea. The beauty of Taiwan tea resides in the tea flavor, with aesthetic standards set by the clearness of its coloring, the purity of its taste, and the elegance of its aroma. Whether it’s baozhong tea, dongding tea, pengfeng tea, tieguanyin tea, dragon well tea, or black tea, each type has its own unique characteristics.

We partner with the TTC in Taiwan, the fountainhead in Taiwan. Uses our cross-field expertise in tea & mass product to custom tailor the best product solution!

Market Trends Study

Tea is one of the oldest beverages in the world. The history of tea began in 2373 BC. Eventually, ready-to-drink (RTD) tea became a factor in beverage market in the late 1980s. It needs no preparation, and can be consumed immediately anywhere. RTD bottles and cans also enable tea to be distributed easily. Therefore, the products are widely available to consumers.

With so many tea varieties, flavors, sweetness levels, herbs, and additional ingredients, RTD tea manufacturers can come up with virtually unlimited combinations. The trend of RTD tea are consistent with the changing lifestyle in people. Depends on the different country, consumption groups (age, sex ... etc).

The market trend is easy to comprehend in Chishin. With long-term specialize in the tea beverage industry, we can gather and analyze the latest market information for our customers to creating a product that's sure of success.