Chapter 6 Section 5 High-end Tea

When talking about the embarrassment of the low-end market, I always feel panicked. Why not talk about Chinese good tea?Speaking of good tea, who can object to the supremacy of famous Chinese tea? However, let me explain first that the Chinese high-end tea and good tea mentioned below may be somewhat different from what people in the tea ceremony refer to.During the research process, I often see a sentence that "good tea can't be bought with money", "real good tea can't flow to the market".When talking about the tea industry, we naturally talk about products that can form a brand and be commercialized, so to some extent, the high-end tea discussed in this article may not necessarily be the best tea.In fact, most people who want to drink good tea will not be unrealistic enough to actively pursue the tea made from the six Dahongpao mother trees, or a few teas made from wild century-old tea trees, or those that cannot be bought. "Tea King".In fact, this situation, that is, the increasing scarcity of top quality tea is also one of the manifestations of the irrational operation of high-end tea in China.

In fact, Chinese high-end tea has quite a few obvious problems, and it is not as beautiful as the opponents at the beginning of the article claim. On the one hand, in the foreign high-end tea market, Japanese green tea always dominates the claws, and its momentum and image are far superior to Chinese tea; when it comes to high-end black tea, there are still many supporters in South Asia, Darjeeling black tea (India), Assam black tea (India) ), Ceylon Highland Black Tea (Sri Lanka).Some people say that it is because all the good Chinese teas are kept in China.However, are the good teas operated by Chinese tea companies really in short supply in China and do not want to export them?Do you want to or can't? It is debatable whether the statement that "all good tea is kept in China is in short supply" is correct.

On the other hand, the domestic high-end tea market is by no means satisfactory.We really have no shortage of so-called high-end tea.There are teahouses, teahouses, and tea shops all over the place. The tea leaves can easily exceed the thousand yuan mark, and there are not a few tea leaves worth tens of thousands or even tens of thousands. Are they really worth that price?There are still many doubts and many questions: There are many famous teas, but there is a lack of famous brands.When talking about wine, I mentioned that if you want to buy good, that is, higher-end French wine, it’s very simple, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t know much about wine. wrong.But in China, even ordinary people can spit out a bunch of good tea when asked: Wuyishan Dahongpao, West Lake Longjing, Huangshan Maojian, Qimen black tea... We do have a famous production area, but it is embarrassing. The most important thing is that it is not enough to recognize those production areas. How can we buy veritable Chinese high-end tea?Not to mention ordinary people, even experts and senior tea lovers will spit and spit.The most common and most reliable answer is: "If you have acquaintances, you'd better buy tea from them." "Acquaintances" is really a concept with Chinese characteristics. They are everywhere and have extraordinary abilities.This year's "Sanlian Life Weekly" 12th cover story, there is a very realistic passage: "For old tea drinkers who are used to drinking Kung Fu tea, the tea that circulates in the tea market in big cities is called "commercial tea" by them. Not a good name. They find tea in various ways: some rely on a tea distributor with a special source; Find the good tea that suits your heart."

Look, how difficult it is to buy good tea!Either "find a tea dealer with a special source", or "find a tea friend in the production area".It's really hard to spend money on some good tea without acquaintances!This is the dilemma of not having a famous brand.In fact, there are also some small wineries in France that have mysterious and rare wines, and you can only buy them if you have to be introduced by a related person, but after all, there are only a few of them.Wines from famous wineries and famous production areas are available as long as you have a sufficient budget. Everyone from ordinary people to professionals believes in its cost-effectiveness.This is the real charm of famous brands.

The high-end tea market is chaotic, deceived, and lacking in trust.How many people can bravely walk into a branded or no-branded tea shop, believing that the amazingly expensive tea is really worth that money?There are still some people who bravely go to the famous tea-producing areas to buy local famous tea at high prices, but whether they are local experienced tea lovers or travelers with a little common sense, they all know that the "famous tea" they buy is probably fake. of.However, good Chinese teas are too easy to be hyped up now. Pu'er in the past few years, and Jinjunmei and Yinjunmei last year have seriously disrupted the already chaotic market.

How did these problems arise?All because the operating rules of China's high-end tea market and the operation of tea merchants violate the essence of the tea industry - collecting nature attracts people and shortens the distance between man and nature. Fortunately, there are still some successful high-end tea brands in China, such as the Zhuyeqing mentioned below (don’t jump out and say that Zhuyeqing is not a good tea at all. Under such strict standards, few people in China can drink "true tea" good tea"). It is not for nothing that China has a long history of tea, the birthplace of tea (very likely, the academic circle is still inconclusive), and the origin of top tea.Just like France and other old world countries and good wine producing areas in new world countries such as the United States and Australia, they all rely on natural conditions. Based on this, they cultivate the most suitable local wine grapes to make good wine.The same goes for China.If God gave France the best natural environment to grow grapes to make good wine, then God undoubtedly gave China the best natural environment to grow tea trees to make good tea.

The growth of tea trees has high requirements on soil conditions, ecological environment, rainfall and temperature. From the point of view of temperature, the average monthly temperature in the growing season of tea trees is preferably above 18 degrees Celsius, the optimum temperature is 20-27 degrees Celsius, and the suitable annual effective accumulated temperature for growth is above 4000 degrees Celsius.Therefore, from a global perspective, tea trees are mainly distributed between 6 and 22 degrees north latitude, and China's land area is very large within this latitude range. From the perspective of rainfall and humidity, the average annual rainfall of tea trees is 1000-2000mm, the monthly rainfall in the growing season is above 100mm, and the relative humidity is generally 80%.Many tropical and subtropical regions at the same latitude in the world are deserts or grasslands. The temperature conditions are met, but the water is insufficient.Fortunately, our country is significantly affected by the monsoon due to the topography and sea and land location factors. Therefore, the subtropical region of our country has abundant precipitation in the high temperature season, and the climate is warm and humid, so that tea trees can grow.

In addition, tea trees also have the characteristics of tolerance to shade, and like weak light and diffuse light (shaded by tree shade or scattered by clouds).That is to say, not only must there be heat and water, but the light must also be just right, which is why there is a saying that "high mountains produce good tea" - because high mountains gather all kinds of suitable natural factors: cloudy and foggy, large temperature difference, There is a lot of diffused light, short sunshine time, high humidity, and strong tenderness of buds and leaves, which is conducive to improving the aroma of tea, and has good taste and tenderness (but the higher the mountain, the better, and the flat land also produces good tea. The key point is whether there is a comprehensive and suitable natural environment) - my country's mountains and hills account for 2/3 of the country's land area!

Tea trees like loose soil, deep soil layer, good drainage (low water table), gravel and sandy soil with acidic or slightly acidic reaction.Do you know a remarkable geological feature of our country?Ancient red weathering crusts are widely distributed.The red color is due to the lack of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals but is rich in iron and aluminum oxides, so the soil is acidic. This question is more complicated, but what is certain is that many places in China have natural environments suitable for the growth of tea trees, and this is the premise of making high-end tea.The following takes the natural environment of Zhuyeqing, West Lake Longjing and Anxi Tieguanyin production areas as examples.

Zhuyeqing is a kind of green tea. The production area is located in Mount Emei, which is "the most beautiful of the three mountains". The tea gardens are mainly located in the mountains of Mount Emei at an altitude of 800-1200 meters.In terms of climate, Mount Emei is famous for its foggy conditions, surrounded by clouds and mist all the year round, and it is raining frequently. There is a climate phenomenon called "Huaxi rain screen" which is called strange by the world's meteorological and climatological circles.At the same time, 850 million years of geological growth history, coupled with suitable climate and biological conditions, make the soil loose, deep and naturally fertile.Mount Emei is a world natural heritage. It is far away from modern industrial pollution and radiation. It has a huge plant gene pool consisting of more than 5,000 species of wild plants. The ecological chain is rich in species and constitutes a complete, complex and pollution-free Emei ecological circle.Also because of such nature, Emei Mountain has a long history of tea production, and white bud tea was listed as a tribute in the Tang Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty, Baishui Temple (now Wannian Temple, which is where the Zhuyeqing Tea Garden is located) in Emei Mountain planted thousands of tea plants and harvested them as tribute. Li Shan, a scholar in the Tang Dynasty, recorded in his "Selected Notes on Ming Wen": "There are many herbs in Eshan, tea You Hao, it’s different from the world.”

It is also like West Lake Longjing, which is the most famous tea in China. The Longjing tea area is distributed on the beautiful mountains beside the West Lake.The tea area is surrounded by lakes and mountains, with a mild climate, shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, abundant rainfall, loose soil structure and high quality and fertile soil, so the tea trees have deep roots and lush leaves, and are green all year round.The tea produced in the mountains of the West Lake has a history of thousands of years, and enjoyed a high reputation in the Tang Dynasty, but it took nearly a hundred years to form the flat Longjing tea.According to legend, when Emperor Qianlong visited Hangzhou, he wrote a poem in Tianzhu, the Longjing tea area. Another example is Anxi County, where Tieguanyin is produced.The branch of Daiyun Mountain extends from Zhangping City to Anxi, and the surface slopes from northwest to southeast.The county is mountainous, with an area of ​​more than 3,000 square kilometers, 80% of which are mountains, and there are more than 1,000 peaks above 1,000 meters above sea level.The warm sea breeze blows from the east, bringing abundant rainfall to Anxi.Most of the 24 townships in the county belong to the Nei'anxi mountain area.Here there are four distinct seasons, large temperature difference between day and night, obvious seasonal changes, relatively low temperature, high humidity, and foggy climate characteristics, which provide excellent conditions for the growth of high-quality tea trees.What's more rare is that although Anxi is close to the sea, it is blocked by high mountains and is not disturbed by the sea breeze.In the entire microclimate zone, the tea area is surrounded by clouds and fog all year round, with fresh air and no pollution.Tieguanyin with good aroma is mostly grown in the high-altitude Nei'anxi mountainous area, where there are many clouds and fog, diffuse sunlight and strong ultraviolet rays.The tea leaves accumulate more aromatic substances, and the tea leaves are thick, soft and tender.The unique geographical conditions and climate make Anxi a treasure house of various tea varieties.There are still many treasure houses of wild tea tree varieties growing in the county. The motherland has great rivers and mountains, and famous teas are spread all over the country, so I won’t go into details here.There is no doubt that a considerable part of my country does have a natural basis for producing high-end tea, but this is only a prerequisite. Let's take a look at what Chinese tea people have done. First of all, it must be admitted that it is indeed much more difficult to produce good tea in commercial quantities than wine. From the perspective of raw material production (growing grapes and tea) and processing (making wine and roasting tea), the variables to be controlled for tea are definitely not inferior to wine, and it can even be said to be more demanding.For example, in picking, the temperature difference of a few degrees is directly related to whether the tea buds are usable. In addition, high-end teas are generally high-mountain teas, and the changeable weather in the mountains is quite annoying. Picking bud tea must be done manually, and you can’t pinch it with your nails, because the roots will turn black. , of course not torn apart.After picking, the time is very tight, because the fresh leaves cannot be stored, even if it is only for half a day, if they are piled together, the water will not come out, and they will be stuffy. They must be spread out to dry, and then quickly "fried" within a few hours.And once not everyone can do it, if there are one or two good winemakers and bartenders in wine, they can lead a group of people to complete the processing of a large number of wines; but this is not the case in the production of good tea. Living things require constant observation during the frying process."Therefore, it is extremely difficult to produce high-end tea in relatively large quantities. Secondly, there is a very big difference between the tea industry and the wine industry. As mentioned above, the winery is responsible for the entire production process of high-end wine, from grape planting to winemaking to bottling, so consumers know who produced the wine they are drinking.However, Chinese tea is not, although almost all brand tea companies say that they are "one-stop" enterprises, responsible from the beginning to the end.But in fact, in most cases, they buy raw tea from tea farmers, (sometimes with post-micro-processing), select, pack and sell.At the same time, most of the high-quality tea gardens and tea fields are owned by scattered tea farmers, and they are responsible for most of the tea planting, picking and post-processing (basically finished tea).However, most of the "commercial tea" we buy on the market are named after brand tea companies, although they are not the ones who make the tea.In other words, most of the branded tea companies in China are equivalent to wine merchants in the wine industry, that is, middlemen rather than producers.This distances consumers from nature, increases uncertainties in quality control, and puts tea farmers in a relatively disadvantaged position, with brand tea companies taking up most of their profits. This is why more tea lovers choose to buy tea from Xiangshu tea shops and tea houses. What they are looking for is the most reliable middleman to choose good tea for them.In comparison, it will be closer to real nature and real good tea than brand tea companies that choose to omit the face of tea farmers and replace them. Then why don't Chinese tea factories buy tea gardens and hire tea farmers for production?Isn't it easy to control the quality?Isn't it possible to reduce costs?On the contrary, brand tea factories are trying to save money. "For farmers in China, the cost of labor is not calculated, so the income of farmers is very low. If the company takes all the raw materials for itself, it will have to pay more and more expensive costs such as land and human labor. In the previous system, it was still possible to I saw that the tea factories of labor reform, state-run and agricultural reclamation are all dead now because they can’t afford the cost.” People in the tea industry said so. It is impossible to change such an industrial system at once. Chinese tea factories and tea merchants really need to think hard about how to pursue excellence and preserve nature. If they are really willing to consciously pursue excellence instead of using Chinese tea If this feature of the industry makes a fortune. As mentioned above, very few Chinese tea companies undertake the major task of producing tea. Most of them are purchased from tea farmers, and most of them carry out the final micro-processing and packaging. "Remote control" quality and selection is their first challenge. Zhuyeqing Company, which we selected as a successful model, has a seemingly perfect "Twelve Rules of Discourse", which expounds the 12 rules they abide by in "production" of tea. (Zhuyeqing "Lun Dao" is the highest grade among the three grades of Zhuyeqing, and it is also the grade exhibited at the Monaco Luxury Fair.) We originally thought that Zhuyeqing was the only Chinese tea company that was responsible for the production process, but after investigation I found that the "Twelve Rules of Discourse" is indeed the result of "artisticization". They are not much different from other Chinese tea companies. They all have a (small) piece of their own tea garden, and then cooperate with tea farmers. It is the "company plus base plus farmer" model that is currently prevailing in China's agricultural product industry.But different from other tea companies, they have developed their own way - "product quality assurance model". Sounds pretty common doesn't it?It seems that all Chinese companies have such a so-called XX quality XX model, right?It's just a name, how to do it is the key.Here are a few examples to illustrate how this model can help Zhuyeqing to "remote control" the quality and carry out selection and grading. In addition to the tea gardens it owns, Zhuyeqing has also signed agreements with other tea farmers, and those tea gardens are the agreement bases.Tea gardens are numbered for data management.Only tea growers who produce steadily can obtain long-term contracts.What are the benefits of signing a contract with Zhuyeqing?Zhuyeqing has to buy tea from the agreement base every year, "You have to buy their tea regularly, otherwise why would people listen to you?" Not only is the purchase volume stable, but also because the company "doesn't worry about sales, so it doesn't lower prices, and tea farmers don't worry too much. ", the price is guaranteed. Unless the quality is too poor, the insurance company will pay if there is a problem, and the tea farmers will definitely buy the bamboo leaf green produced, so the tea farmers don't have to worry about sales.And this is so important, the price of tea is one day, and I can't afford it. After Qingming, it will be the price of cabbage.Furthermore, if the tea itself is not processed quickly, it will deteriorate, making it impossible to make high-end green tea.There are too many small tea companies in Sichuan, but they cannot afford high prices and the quantity is small, so it is not cost-effective to sell them.Under this premise, Zhuyeqing can "remote control" the quality of the tea it buys. Production is controlled through the "base office", which is responsible for the production guidance of several major tea areas. "Production and cultivation are beyond our control, but fertilizers and pest control are ours."In terms of processing, Zhuyeqing has set up more than 20 raw material supply points and processing points (raw material acquisition points) in tea production areas.These processing sites directly purchase fresh leaves from tea farmers.When the tea arrives, who is in charge, when and where it was collected must be clearly recorded.Then the production department and quality inspection department set up at the processing point will quickly rate the fresh leaves (discussion, meditation and taste).After that, the processing point will be processed within 4 hours according to the requirements.The processing standard is the same as that stated in the "Law of Taoism". The national standard is 7% to 8% moisture, and bamboo leaf green is about 4%. It is precisely because of such a relationship of mutual trust, compact production process, clear standards and practical implementation of standards that Zhuyeqing can "remote control" the quality. For example, the timing of tea-picking is explained in the "Rules of Taoism" in this way: "Seize the timing and learn to be fast and accurate. ... The harvesting of the Tao is particular about the early and late steps. ... Precisely calculate the rainy season, consider The weather is slightly affected, and the percentage of sprouts is measured on a millimeter scale...Once the time is right, pick them before 9:00 am to 3:00 noon..." As we mentioned earlier, this artistically perfects the reality.But the timing of tea picking must not be sloppy.They do strictly monitor the weather and set corresponding tea-picking and tea-harvesting periods.For example, in 2009, Emeishan tea was mined on February 27, and within 20 days it was regarded as a good bud tea. Therefore, when Zhuyeqing purchased the fresh leaves picked and made during these days, the tea farmers were allowed to have a certain taste instability. The tea purchased is at a completely different price; another example is when frost occurs, the company will notify the tea farmers in the affected areas that they are not allowed to pick tea within a few days (the buds will rot); another example is the sudden rise in temperature, the company will immediately make a corresponding decision Stop the picking of low camellias.In addition to the time, Zhuyeqing is not allowed to use "progerin", a spray that can make tea trees germinate in large quantities, and is "strictly prohibited".Tea farmers dare not use it, because "the difference can be detected by the prism, and we have to compensate the company for the loss." Another example is the control of tea tree species.Because in the 1960s and 1970s, the major tea-producing provinces in China, such as Fujian, Zhejiang, and Sichuan, took yield as the most critical agricultural standard. Therefore, tea species propagated asexually by cuttings were planted on a large scale, and the "good varieties" continued. title.Because of this, the fine varieties planted in large areas in Sichuan 40 years ago were the "Fuding line" from Fujian and the large-leaf variety from Yunnan; in the past ten years, the "fine varieties" such as Fuding Dabai and Mingshan 131 are still blooming everywhere in Sichuan. .However, "the production-based selection method does not work in high-end green tea. If you want ideal bud shape, strong taste but not bitter, you have to look back."Li Jiaguang, a professor at the Tea Science Department of Sichuan Agricultural University, said.In the past four or five years, Sichuan's high-end green tea has been produced, and only then has it returned to the trend of old Sichuan tea varieties, and the old Sichuan tea varieties that have been preserved in mountainous areas with low yields have regained their beauty.The highest-grade "Lundao" in Zhuyeqing green tea uses "Laochuan tea species that are sexual (relatively asexual reproduction) and seed reproduction". It can be seen that the core of the Zhuyeqing model of "pursuing excellence and cherishing nature" has two points: one is the close and mutually beneficial relationship between tea farmers. Mandatory control", a reporter from Sanlian Magazine commented; the second is standardization.On the one hand, standardization is conducive to maintaining a stable and high product quality, and on the other hand, it also enables tea farmers to know well and make it easy for them to produce tea that meets the standard. In fact, it is not easy for Zhuyeqing to closely contact tea farmers and control the quality like this.After all, the success of owning the entire small variety of tea "Zhuyeqing" cannot be ignored, and this is impossible for most other tea companies and tea farmers. We even advocate that Chinese high-end tea should go to French "châteaux" the way. It is not surprising to see an old tea grower complaining like this: "After making the tea, I really don't have the energy to do brand management and marketing." On the contrary, when investigating French wine, I often see similar statements, "We don't care whether we sell it or not. For wine, just make the wine well”, because the work of selling wine, including publicity and sales, has been handed over to a large group of experienced middlemen. This is actually one of the manifestations of the problems we mentioned at the beginning of this part. In fact, quite a few tea companies in China are only acting as middlemen, but at the same time they have taken away the name of producers.This undoubtedly helps tea companies to earn more profits, but it not only puts important tea producers in an unfair position, deprives them of the benefits they deserve, but also distances consumers from nature (natural collectors, tea farmers, tea masters) ) makes it difficult for really good tea to come out.We suggest, and hope, that there are excellent tea companies that can work as middlemen in a down-to-earth manner, serve excellent tea farmers and tea masters, help them with brand management and product marketing, and share benefits, so as to avoid their worries and be able to make tea wholeheartedly . For tea companies, there must be no huge profits that can be obtained by usual means, but while excellent middlemen tea companies are willing to stay behind the scenes, tea producers have gained their due status, and the distance between consumers and nature has been greatly shortened. There are absolutely advantages and no disadvantages for good tea to go out of the mountains and sell at a good price, and the benefits that tea companies can obtain are not necessarily less than before.More importantly, this can encourage people to re-emphasize the tea planting and tea making industry to a certain extent, and no longer choose new high-yield varieties because the income is too low to continue, resulting in the increasing scarcity of old tea varieties, and no longer Because of the slim prospects and low status, no one is willing to engage in this industry. As a result, good tea is always too late to be picked and processed in the mountains, and good tea is scarce on the market, and "we cannot buy it with money." It seems that there has never been a period of respect for agricultural laborers and craftsmen in Chinese history, but they are so irreplaceable to us to get natural praise from the land - we can not pack tea in luxurious and complicated, put it in a decorative The tea companies in the beautiful specialty stores cannot do without these natural transmitters who look at the sky and care about tea, and treat tea as they treat people.Is it time to give them the financial benefits and status they deserve? It seems that being famous is not necessarily a good thing sometimes.There are many famous teas in China, and Longjing Gui is the most famous tea, which attracts countless people to spend a lot of money. Every spring, everyone rushes to buy it, and the price rises but never falls.However, many tea connoisseurs lament that it is becoming more and more difficult to find a good Longjing tea. On the one hand, it is the reduction of good tea.Ge Songde said that before 2000, in Longwu where he lived, the legal area of ​​tea gardens was 8,000 mu, which was "authentic West Lake Longjing tea (that is, old tea trees)", accounting for 70% of the total old tea trees in the entire place of origin. However, "premature birth is a treasure, and late birth is a grass." In recent years, in order to pursue the early market in order to sell at a good price, Ge Songde saw with his own eyes "more than 800 mu of old tea trees were dug up in succession in some places in Longwu, and Longjing tea was planted. 43".Due to "the benefits of development, Wuniuzao, 108, 117 and other varieties have been planted in some places, with a total area of ​​nearly 1330 mu." In other places in the West Lake Longjing production area, "changing varieties" has become common. However, according to the "Lu Yu Tea Classic" records, as early as the Tang Dynasty, Longjing group species began to be planted around the West Lake.In this way, the old Longjing has a history of at least 1,000 years.Natural selection is the last word. "'Earth Tea' (Old Longjing Tea) tastes mellow, and it is not at the same level as Longjing 43!" said Mr. Shi, an old Hangzhou native who lives in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou.Indeed, if you sniff the two cups of West Lake Longjing tea in front of the reporter, you can tell which one is "earth tea" and which one is Longjing 43. "If you really know how to taste tea, you will know the value of 'earth tea'. Its aroma and taste are incomparable." During the interview, the reporter also found that some tea farmers still kept some old tea trees in their homes, but only for tea production. I drank it for myself. New varieties such as Longjing No. 43 have become the new favorites of tea farmers not because of better quality, but because they germinate earlier, yield higher yields, and bring higher returns. Longjing is an "indigenous" old Longjing that has won the reputation of "the first famous tea".If this continues, how long the scenery of Longjing can last, and whether our descendants can drink good Longjing is really worth worrying about. Another reason is that there are fewer and fewer tea masters. According to the materials provided by Shang Jiannong, president of the Longjing Tea Industry Association in West Lake District, tea farmers who have obtained advanced certificates are basically between 40 and 60 years old, and those under the age of 40 basically get certificates below advanced level. Among them, there are almost no young people in their 20s. In 2008, for the first time, 97 young workers got the certificate of tea frying workers. By 2009, 68 young workers got the certificate, and this year it is expected to be 40 people.It is not difficult to find that the number of participants in certification is declining year by year.This also means that there are very few successors to the old masters who have been frying tea for many years, and new forces have not really been injected into this traditional industry. It was once revealed by the media that Fan Shenghua, the provincial inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of West Lake Longjing tea production skills, wanted to recruit apprentices.This news made people's eyes shine, and finally there was a successor for the technical work.However, three years later, when I asked Fan Shengchen again, he shook his head: "I can't recruit apprentices, so far only two people are willing to learn from me." Fan Shenghua bluntly said that in his village, except for him who can insist on frying by hand, other households have already used machines.He is like an "old antique", persisting alone. According to Shen Hong, a national first-class tea appraiser, hand-fried tea has a unique personality: hand-fried tea has a stronger and longer-lasting aroma than machine-fried tea, and the taste is more mellow.Tea leaves are alive, and senior masters can use different methods and heat according to different tea leaves. This carefully considered technology cannot be achieved by a unified machine model.More importantly, hand-fried tea is to protect and inherit the traditional craft of West Lake high-grade Longjing tea. Of course, this cannot be entirely blamed on the tea farmers. After all, who doesn't want to make more money?There is not much difference in selling price between hand-fried and machine-fried tea, and machine-fried tea saves time and trouble.At the same time, there is also the influence of traditional Chinese concepts.Because in fact, grassroots-oriented agricultural technicians, such as tea fryers, are very sought-after after graduation, and the employment situation is also very good (data from the Ministry of Education in 2009: the employment rate of college students is 68%; the listeners all feel incredible, "being employed " appears).But parents still choose to let their children study in those popular industries that are crowded with jobs, and they are unwilling to send their children to learn tea. "Many traditional parents can't accept that they have to go back to do farm work after finishing their studies." Moreover, frying tea is really not an easy job. "Three years of green pot, five years of bright pot", it takes time to accumulate.In an era of advocating "quick money", such a career is obviously not a good choice. Longjing tea is not a special case, and other famous Chinese teas are also facing the same dilemma.Experts and tea factories basically pursue output, and few concentrate on preserving old tea varieties and old craftsmanship. For example, Longjing replaced old-style firewood pots with rice cookers, and old Longjing was replaced with Longjing 43. Tieguanyin began to transfer the "withering" process to Air-conditioned rooms, such as reforms in the Wuyi rock tea area from having a variety of famous teas to the Wuyi rock tea area where cinnamon and narcissus account for an absolute majority may increase production and sales in a short period of time, and expand the influence of "famous teas" However, from a long-term perspective, it has caused incalculable losses to China's high-quality tea, such as damage to reputation and loss of species (the decline of famous clusters is the embodiment). It is not to say that we should blindly abandon modern tea production methods and “go back to the past” in the whole tea industry. But for middle-to-high-end good tea and China's famous tea production areas, famous wineries are their fellows in the wine industry.Firmly believe that "the beauty of wine is endowed by nature, the role of the winemaker is to choose the most ideal way to put the grapes in the bottle", and firmly believe that "land, climate, and variety are the essence that determine and reflect the style and quality of wine , is the spirit of interpreting the highest state of wine and its culture, and the key to the achievement of high-end wine. The real good tea is a gift from God, and it is the expression of respect and love for nature by the tea maker. Choosing the tea planting and tea making method that best preserves the local superior natural conditions and reflects the local style is the only way that high-end teamakers should go the right way. In France, there is a strict and astonishing AOC system to ensure that wineries and wineries in famous producing areas abide by the "natural preventive brewing method" and do not mess with the will of nature; in the wine world, there are countless professional wine evaluations Masters test wines with their noses, tongues and fault-finding spirit that are more precise than instruments, so that really good wines will be praised and cherished as they should be. However, there are few such "gatekeepers" in the Chinese tea industry. China has never lacked standards, but whether the standards exist or not depends on the implementation situation.As early as 2000, the country began to implement the "origin protection system".After ten years of development, hundreds of products have been certified by the AQSIQ for the protection of origin, and many of them have passed the certification of the protection of origin. . First of all, whether my country’s Quality Inspection Bureau understands the concept of the protection system of origin is a problem. Although they have a clear definition of “origin” in the “Regulations on the Protection of Products with Regions of Origin”: “Products with regions of origin are Refers to the use of raw materials produced in a specific region, produced in a specific region according to traditional techniques, the quality, characteristics or reputation are essentially determined by the geographical characteristics of the region of origin, and the product is named after the region of origin after review and approval in accordance with these regulations According to the above definition, the appellation of origin includes four basic meanings, including "it must be a local native product or a product produced through a unique traditional process. For example, Turpan raisins are a unique natural selection in local history. Grape varieties, coupled with the local geographical conditions such as soil, climate, temperature, humidity and light, are produced through thousands of years of traditional processing techniques; It has a certain character and quality".However, according to such regulations, many phenomena are quite confusing. For example, in order to protect West Lake Longjing, the relevant state departments implemented the origin protection policy in 2001, and the Hangzhou Municipal Government delineated a protection area of ​​168 square kilometers according to the actual production range of West Lake Longjing.However, in 2002, the national-level clone "Longjing No. 43" bred by the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences from the Longjing population was recognized by the relevant state departments, and it can also be planted in the West Lake Longjing origin protection area. , it is not a local product of "natural selection", it does not have a "reputation" in the domestic market, and there is no data showing that "it has certain characteristics and quality".Why is it planted and favored?Early germination, high yield, and better yield-increasing effects of fertilizers than other varieties.Isn't this obviously against the spirit of "protection of origin"? Not only that, if the hasty approval of the new variety "Longjing 43" can be said to be due to insufficient understanding of the essence of the protection of origin system, then the following examples are sufficient to show that the system is a mess. 1. After 20 years, the authentic Longjing will no longer exist? In the past 20 years, a large number of Longjing tea gardens have been expropriated, and nearly 2,000 mu have been "nibbled", resulting in a sharp drop in tea production. In 2004, the output of Longjing tea was more than 3,000 dan, a decrease of more than 1,000 dan compared with the high yield.Statistics show that in 1978, the total planting area of ​​West Lake Longjing was 4,598 mu, which dropped to 2,698 mu in 1999.Although after several times of reclamation, the area of ​​Longjing tea garden has risen to 4,920 mu, but many of them are due to the reclassification of West Lake Longjing tea in 2003, and the inclusion of other tea gardens that did not belong to West Lake Longjing. Despite this, the large-scale construction works continued. In April 2005, 48 families had to be demolished, and the area of ​​the tea garden requisitioned reached 8,000 square meters!Taking Meijiawu and other places rich in Longjing tea as tourist resorts, Longjing must also make concessions in order to "need to build a tourist scenic spot" and "an important step in urbanization".The leaders also emphasized that when they requisition tea plantation land, they adopt the policy of requisitioning one and making up for one, that is to say, where there is a piece of tea garden missing, it will be filled in another place, and some even cover an area smaller than that of the tea garden. More to lose.According to their concept, this is just moving to a new home, why all the fuss?If this is the case, isn't the "protection of origin system" too ridiculous?哪种不都一样，这儿给我盖旅游景点，在其他地方补两块给你！但是，恐怕“橘生淮南则为橘，生于淮北则为枳”的道理如今不会改，法国的“terrior”理念对应的中国“水土”观，其背后的自然原理不是领导们的“想当然”可以改变的。 2.“自我山寨” 龙井茶受地理标志证明保护的地区，为下列三个品种和范围：西湖龙井产区、钱塘龙井产区和越州龙井产区。 可是有杭州市茶科所专家表示，富阳拔山的钱塘龙井，茶叶品种和西湖龙井一级产区是一样，而旦，从某种意义上说，那里的气候环境和西湖景区没有差别，甚至更好。因为它整个产区几乎是在无污染的状况下，而梅家坞等地的茶园，随着农家乐的火暴，却不免遭受汽车尾气等污染。但由于受到西湖龙井原产地保护的制约，很难超越西湖龙井，难以占领市场。 又有连龙井产区都进不去的丽水缙云，它属于浙南山区，是浙江欠发达地区，但环境优美，气候条件优越。缙云茶叶长在海拔600米以上的深山里，不用农药。这里最好的茶叶每斤价格也仅仅只有两三百元。缙云茶叶长在海拔600米以上深山里，近几年，当地政府很重视发展茶叶产业，请中国农科院茶叶研究所的教授级专家“贴身”指导，每年进行规模比较大的炒茶、品茶技术培训。但市场推广中，却因为龙井的原产地保护等制约，不免遭遇强大市场挤压。 于是占据优势地位的西湖龙井一级产区茶农们瞅准了此间机会，大量地购入这些“不得名分”的好茶们，大量炮制“山寨龙井”，以几百元收购转手便是2000元、3000元，利润达五倍。西湖龙井推出地理标志证明这一原产地保护政策，是为了保护茶叶质量更高，使品牌运作更规范，是为了“打假”。可现在不仅没保证受认证地区的质量，还压制了其他好产区的发展。 3.权威第三方认证总结 原产地保护制度本身毫无疑问是一个能保护好农产品的工具，假如制度的执行者确实了解这个制度赖以为继的精髓在哪的话。散漫自由时时罢工的法国人因对自然的伟大崇敬，锻造出高度标准化的原产地保护制度，并以维护民族荣誉的精神加以执行，这就是充满法制化精神的“原产地保护制度”。 制定制度之时就要秉着严谨精神充分认证，草率、“想当然”都是大忌。 不是因为某产区曾经出产过好茶，所以不将它归入“原产地保护制度”就觉得过意不 去或是令人生疑。我国在建国之后有过相当长一段时间的不理智，“亩产过万斤”的时代精神也很大地影响过中国的茶叶，包括对本土茶树的破坏、对高产量的“良种”的盲目推崇，甚至连茶都不种改种粮食。而茶树是一种富有个性的植物，可以说铲就铲，但是种回来却相当不易。 与此同时，一些原来名气不大的产区并不代表就不是优秀产区。好茶的名扬天下是需要机遇的，连始于1855年等级森严不轻易动摇的法国葡萄园庄分级都能在百多年后的1973年将木桐酒庄升级，可见金子被埋没不是没有可能，发掘金子并给予其应得的名分是十分重要的（当然要经过充分认证）。 因此在确认原产地的时候一定要审慎，否则就会出现龙井的状况，一方面使某些茶得到了不真实的光环，而另一些茶得不到应有的承认。 在制定了制度之后，就要坚决严格执行，严格执行包括两点：一点是规范体制内的“既得利益者”；二是坚决打击体制外的投机者。 就像法国葡萄酒一样，不是因为被囊括进“波尔多”、“勃艮第”或者“香槟省”就可高枕无忧了，保护你的前提是你拥有你需要保护的精华、你挣来值得受保护的资格：不乱打农药、不乱施化肥，不随意进行人工灌溉，控制亩产……做到了才是我们之中的一员，与我们共享名产区的荣光，做不到就请滚出这个圈子。所以进了西湖龙井这个圈子不是仅仅是发财史的开始，也伴随着责任。为了多赚钱草率挖去老茶树种植新品种、混入非西湖龙井产区的“山寨茶”投机倒把、将发展农家乐当作主业而“顺便做茶”种种行为都是不可接受的。 同时也不可姑息市场上的假冒伪劣产品。原产地制度产生、发展的原因是什么？就是因为假酒泛滥，影响了真正好产品的声誉，所以形成一个严密的制度来打击投机者。如今假茶、劣茶太肆无忌惮了，就是因为我们的原产地保护制度做的事情就是对消费者说：请你们好好认准原产地保护制度商标；假茶太多管不了，你们自个儿小心为妙。 旧世界酒面临的状况和中国茶确实颇有相似之处。旧世界酒在近几年的衰微很大一部分原因在于传统酒文化的式微，年轻人开始更多地喝可乐、啤酒和“棒棒糖”、新世界酒。立顿在中国年轻人中的流行和成功也是一样的道理。 相比之下中国茶麻烦比较多。欧洲年轻人即使不像从前那么对旧世界酒充满热爱和骄 傲，但当他们某天想品尝好酒的时候，总知道去哪里寻找；况且失去了欧洲年轻人的欢心，还有亚洲、美洲新兴市场的大批富豪们蜂拥而至呢。而如果中国好茶依托的是识茶懂茶的茶商和有门路的有钱有闲阶级的话，这个依托确实太为薄弱，不确定性也大。况且，好茶能被天下人知晓、追求的满足感以及好茶确实被承认、受推崇对其他茶人的激励作用是不可小觑的。 那么，在中西文化激烈碰撞、西方文化强势、现代生活节奏曰益加快等等情况下，好茶该如何吸引人呢？ 1.权威第三方 竹叶青茶能脱颖而出没有人会忽视“摩纳哥奢侈展”的推力，竹叶青也深知这一点。一年一度的摩纳哥世界顶级奢侈品展览，汇聚了来自全世界的超级跑车、顶级房车、豪华游艇、私人飞机、手表珠宝、奢侈旅游、雪茄洋酒和高科技产品等八大类奢华物品，而一向为外国顶级奢侈品品牌全面占领的地盘上在2006年却出现了一抹“中国绿”——竹叶青。 当地时间4月20日早上，摩纳哥阿尔贝亲王到格拉马蒂展览馆参加开幕仪式及剪彩后，陆续参观了每一个展位（他每年都看到、见怪不该的奢侈品牌们），却在一个古色古香、散发着浓郁的传统文化气息，沉静、内敛又略带神秘的中国产品展位驻足良久，这就是本届展览上的唯一中国品牌“论道”。在观看了茶艺表演并品尝了“论道·竹叶青”之后，亲王对这一极致茶叶赞不绝口。竹叶青代表团也特别准备了“论道”赠送给亲王，亲王对这份“中国礼物”欣然接受，视若珍宝。4月21日，所有竹叶青代表团成员竟然都收到亲王亲笔邀请函，参加亲王的王宫酒会。而论道在此次TOPMARQUES上的最高售价竟然高达半斤3000欧元（3万元人民币），此后代表团所带论道在展览两天时就已经所剩无几。 以上故事由竹叶青公司发布，真实性未考。但“论道·竹叶青”确实成为那次展会唯一受邀的中国品牌，也确实是摩纳哥世界顶级奢侈展有史以来第一个中国品牌。除此之外，竹叶青还在2007年作为“中国俄罗斯年”国茶礼品赠予俄罗斯总统普京，获2007年日本首届世界緑茶博览会金奖（记得前文所说，日本绿茶在国际上声誉一向过于中国），2008年被选为赠送俄罗斯总统梅德韦杰夫礼品茶，2008年获第七届国际名茶评比银奖。 如今我们或许已经不相信“中国驰名商标”，不相信“国家免检产品”，于是在国内权威第三方缺失的情况下，寻找国际认可在验证了产品质量的同时，确实不失为吸引人的 一个好办法。 其实有些名茶也尝试着制造权威第三方来为好茶开路，但具体实施有些偏差，以至于效果不甚突出。 比如上世纪90年代起安溪县政府就开始组织的茶王比赛。从前将赛出的茶王进行拍卖，最贵的500克拍到十余万元。近几年组织者就不再拍卖茶王了，向茶主发完奖金和证书之后，剩下的茶归政府所有，作为顶级礼品。 或许这个茶王赛确实为铁观音的成名推了一大把，但是对安溪铁观音优秀品牌形成的帮助却十分有限。毕竟赢得比赛的茶王们正是那些不会进入流通领域的“礼品茶”，跟大红袍6株母树意义差不多。而法国各酒省、西方国家的评酒师协会、杂志等举办的葡萄酒赛就完全不同，评得的好酒绝大多数都是可在市面上得到的，真正联系了饮酒人和葡萄酒。再加上之前所述，茶农角色的被忽略，或许得到茶王赛肯定的茶农们的茶在茶商那能得到一个更好的价格，但是到了喝茶人这儿，除非是资深的茶道中人，否则这样的好出品来自哪位制茶人依旧是谜。风风光光的“茶王赛”看看热闹是可以，对于大多数喝茶人来说也仅止于此了。 2.包装、广告 不得不说，在这个各个名牌都追求奢华、顶级的时代，要突出并非易事，但竹叶青做得确实有两下子。包括充分利用陈毅元帅予“竹叶青”名的故事、追溯中国的道家、佛家渊源、包括重金聘请设计圈“教父”陈幼坚和远远超出中国平均水平的广告，都对竹叶青茶的吸引人有所帮助。 广告不是飘忽地渲染古典文化，而是充满了自然的清澈气息。色调纯净、精致，广告词简单但击中要害，“阳光、雨露、空气，我们为您收藏”、“每一颗芽心，我们都为您精心挑选”。看到如此美丽优雅的广告，你难道不会觉得玻璃杯中的每一滴碧绿茶汤，都保留了最最纯粹的自然精华吗？ 3.消费祖上的财富 事实上大多数名茶都有个固有的优势，并且它们也正在消费那个优势把茶卖出个好价格——名茶的名声。 竹叶青本可以更加成功，假如它是中国历史名茶的话。虽然四川是产茶大省，但在相当长一段时间并没有拿得出手的好茶，“川西重花茶，川东重沱茶”，绿茶无人识。在祖上的比拼中，它输了一截，好在有了上述其他方式进行弥补，才得以成功地吸引人，并且从现代企业和品牌角度而言，比其他受祖上庇萌的名茶都要成功。 历史名茶多半是由“贡茶”制度产生的。贡茶制度简单来说，就是受皇室承认、专供皇族消费的好茶。演变至今，大致相当于如今各式的“专供特销茶”、“礼品茶”。成为“专供特销茶”是把双刃剑，好处还是比较明显的：质量得到了认证（这可算至高权威了），名声也得到广传；弊处在于，好茶都“特供”了，那剩下的茶质量如何呢（很多时候确实如此，压根没有好茶留给消费者，这种情况下就别出来欺客了吧）？又得回到“找熟人”的老路子上去了。 同时，正如前文所说，茶文化的式微意味着历史名茶的牌子不再如以往那么不容置疑、无人不知，躺在祖辈的功绩上享受唾手可得的成功巳经不是那么容易的事情了。要想让历史名茶重焕光芒，宣传手段是必要的，但是有几点需要注意。 第一，历史名茶多半与产地紧紧相连，因此这是全产区茶农的事而不是一两个茶叶品牌的事，除非你像竹叶青一样，包揽下整个小品类茶。大多数时候，一荣俱荣一损俱损，这就必须回到前文“权威第三方考验和把关”处，学习法国葡萄酒原产地保护的运作模式。 第二，宣传只是推动手段。拥有卓越自然是前提，然后要珍藏自然，最后才是想办法吸引人。每一步都是建立在上一步的基础上，没有快捷方式。不能成功珍藏自然而奢谈吸引人、拉近人与自然的距离是妄想。中国不乏懂茶之人，要忽悠他们是不可能的事情。 第三，不可过度强调过去的荣光。法国名酒庄莫不拥有上百年的传奇历史，有无数精彩的名人轶事，但是归根结底人们认的还是它们穿越百年风霜之后的当下“始终如一的质量和对优良传统的传承”。常见许多中国茶品牌都诉诸古典茶文化，也仅止于古典茶文化。茶文化是茶在中国人心目中形象的一个组成部分，但终究是要落到实处，其依托也在茶本身。没有制成好茶的精神而是只顾于捞钱、不顾自然、迫不及待地拥抱快捷现代，本身就跟中国悠远茶文化相矛盾。产品精神与宣传不统一，漂亮话说再多也没用。所以中国名茶的宣传也应落到当下，不说“我过去有多么多么了不起”，而是“我从前很好，到现在还是很好（或更好）”。 4.茶叶版《神之水滴》 虽然令人叹惋，但中国的许多传统文化确实在不断地退出人们的生活，如果不想让我们民族的优秀传统就这么死去、光留在古籍的蒙尘语句中，就必须好好想想办法了。 暂且不论《百家论坛》究竟有没有将中国文化诠释正确、解释清楚，不说类似《明朝那些事儿》这样的书有多少错误、够不够严谨，对于“快餐文化”人们向来有太多争议。但重点在于，在人心浮躁的现代社会中，没有这些快餐文化，相当一部分人瞄也不会瞄这些历史一眼的，不是吗？真正有兴趣的人自会花工夫寻找更严谨的材料加以研究，其他人权当娱乐娱乐、长长见识亦无妨。 况且茶叶和那些历史、哲学不尽相同。人们会因为《神之水滴》对葡萄酒产生了兴趣并加以尝试，尝试之后一定有一部分人会喜欢上，作用就十分了不得了。茶叶也一样，我们认为当代年轻人不喝茶只是因为缺乏了解，就像从前不了解葡萄酒因而不喝酒的亚洲人一样。若真能出现这样如《神之水滴》般严谨考证、精心构思的漫画或文学作品或电视作品，对茶业的帮助绝对不容小觑。 5.吸引人总结 中国历史名茶和法国名酒庄的酒都有可传承的优势，但利用此优势之时必须着眼于当下、着眼于产品。 在国内权威第三方暂时缺失的情形下，可以利用国外认证或是另外创造。但另外创造第三方来吸引人时，还是得脚踏实地，“茶王赛”尽管风光，但颁奖给不可商业化的数斤茶对品牌和产业的裨益实在有限。 面对传统文化的当代危机，利用现代媒体抑或是所谓的“快餐文化”倒也无妨，总比坐以待毙好吧？ 而一切吸引人的手段都必须建立在珍藏自然的基础上，我想这是目前中国茶企最需要认识到的一点。 6.全文总结 不论是源远流长的中国茶，还是年轻气盛的中国葡萄酒，蒙上天庇护，在中国的广袤国土上确实都能找到它们赖以为生的卓越自然。然而若想让人们愿意为高端茶、高端酒一掷千金，让人们在琳琅满目的实惠选择中将目光和手都落在中国大众茶、大众酒上，就必须掌握行业本质。或珍藏自然吸引人，或改造自然迁就人，都是竭尽所能将水泥森林中的人们与自然间的距离缩短再缩短，帮助人们品尝自然的味道。