My American friends have come to expect to go tea shopping with me, if they come to visit, so I did not want to disappoint them. Taiwan’s Tea Culture is an excellent way to give people a simple view of Taiwanese culture.
It is so unlike buying tea in the states. In the US, you would walk into a supermarket
and pick one off the shelf. You don’t
have any knowledge about the tea you’re buying beyond what’s written on the
packaging.
When you buy tea in Taiwan, you can sit with a “Tea Master”
who will serve you samples of a number of teas.
They will explain whether it was harvested in winter, summer, spring or
fall. They’ll explain the difference
between the tea harvests. For example,
the spring harvest is best for Wulong (oolong) Tea. It has to do with temperature and the way the
plants react to changing temperatures.
White, Green, Wulong and Red (called Black Tea in the US) teas all come
from the same plant. The different
classifications are the result of oxidation, processing temperature and other
factors. The Tea Master is an expert in
all of this. They will take a much time
as you need to taste and explore the tea.
They will also pour and serve a variety of teas for you to taste
and compare, telling you the differences between the teas you’re tasting. They’re
brewed in white cups so you can evaluate the color of the tea. The teas are served at the proper temperature
for that type. Tea flavor can change as the tea cools.
This isn’t something you do in a hurry. The process for me, and I’m pretty
knowledgeable about tea, can take about an hour. I usually leave the place pretty well caffeinated.
It’s a great fun experience, but really it comes down to buy
what tastes best in your opinion. I usually
by a tea called Dong Ding Wulong. Some
of my friends are not fond of it, because it has a very strong tea flavor. They prefer lighter, smoother tea
flavor. If everybody liked the same
thing it would be pretty boring for tea producers.
今天，我帶了一些來訪的美國朋友到福壽山茶廠購買台灣茶。我認為他們的茶——全都是高山茶——品質非常優良。這個種茶的家族在台灣經營茶葉生意已經六代了。
我的美國朋友們來台灣時，幾乎都期待能和我一起去買茶，所以我不想讓他們失望。台灣的茶文化是一個很好的方式，能讓人簡單地了解台灣文化。
這和在美國買茶完全不同。在美國，你走進超市，直接從架上挑一款茶，對於自己買的茶，除了包裝上的資訊外，幾乎一無所知。
在台灣買茶時，你可以和「茶師」一起坐下來，他們會沖泡多種茶讓你試喝，並解釋這些茶是在哪個季節採收的——冬天、夏天、春天還是秋天。他們還會說明各季節採收的差異，例如春茶最適合烏龍茶，這與氣溫變化及茶樹對環境的反應有關。
白茶、綠茶、烏龍茶和紅茶（美國稱為黑茶）其實都來自同一種茶樹。不同的分類是由於發酵程度、加工溫度等因素決定的。茶師對這些知識都非常精通，並會花時間讓你慢慢品茶、了解茶葉的特性。
他們還會沖泡多款茶供你品嚐和比較，並講解它們之間的不同。茶通常會用白瓷杯沖泡，以便觀察茶湯的顏色。此外，每種茶都有適合的沖泡溫度，茶的風味會隨著冷卻而變化。
這不是一件可以匆忙完成的事。即使我對茶已經算是相當了解了，整個品茶過程大約也要花上一個小時，通常離開時我都已經攝取了不少咖啡因。
這是一個很有趣的體驗，但最終還是要選擇自己最喜歡的口味。我通常會買一款叫做「凍頂烏龍」的茶。不過，有些朋友不太喜歡，因為它的茶味較濃，他們更偏好口感輕柔、順滑的茶。如果大家的口味都一樣，那對茶農來說可就太無趣了！
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