西子湖畔 翠綠醇香

文/五花肉

西子湖畔 翠綠醇香

West Lake, the Home to the Emerald and Aromatic Longijng Tea

文/五花肉

西湖龍井，被公認為中國十大名茶之首，以色翠、香郁、味醇、形美“四絕”而聞名天下，素有“茶雖有之，但皆不及龍井”的美譽，在諸多茶品中獨占鰲頭。

Recognized as the best in China’s top 10 famous teas, West Lake Longjing Tea has earned its name by the features of "green color, unique fragrance, mellow flavor and elegant shape". Among numerous kinds of teas in China, it has dwarfed all its peers.

獨特環境成就地理標志

Distinctive Environment Achieves Geographical Indication

“龍井”取自地名，據田汝成《西湖游覽志》記載，“老龍井有水一泓，寒碧異常……其地產茶，為兩山絕品。” 清代乾隆皇帝六下江南，慕龍井山水與茶名，先后四次巡幸龍井，尋山問水、觀茶作歌，賦《龍井八詠》，一時傳為佳話。"Longjing" was named after its birthplace. According to the West Lake Tour Annals recorded by Tian Rucheng, in ancient times, there was a pool of water in old Longjing, which was featured by unusual coldness and green color. Tea produced there ranked the top of the two mountains nearby. Qianlong, emperor of Qing Dynasty toured to South China personally six times in total, among which he attracted by the famous landscape and tea, visited Longjing four times. During his visiting, the emperor tasted Longjing Tea and composed many poems when travelling Longjing.Eight Poems of Longjing, which was composed by Qianlong, has become a popular tale at that time.

此處“老龍井”為原壽圣院所在地，因出泉而聞名，這里也成為后世龍井茶的發祥地，被認為是西湖龍井地理標志產品，尤其是龍井之上品“獅峰龍井”的主要產區。這里位于業內公認的茶樹生長“黃金線”——北緯28°～32°之間，氣候溫暖濕潤，日照充足雨量充沛，最宜茶樹生長。

The old Longjing here was the original location of Shousheng Temple. Being famous for its spring, old Longjing later became the cradle of Longjing Tea and was regarded as the main production area for Shifeng Longjing Tea, a geographical indication product and regarded as the top of West Lake Longjing Tea. This place is situated at the northern latitude ranging from 28 to 32 degrees, an industry-recognized golden line for growing tea trees because of the mild climate,plentiful sunshine and rainfall.

貢茶標準流傳后世延用

Tribute Tea Standards Passed Down for Later Generations

上品龍井，扁平光滑挺直，苗鋒尖削，芽長于葉，葉底細嫩呈朵，色澤嫩綠，湯色明亮，滋味鮮爽甘醇。隨著品質的降低，外形色澤依次為嫩綠、青綠和墨綠，茶身由小到大，茶條由光滑至粗糙。

The top Longjing Tea is identified with many characteristics. For its outlook, it boasts smooth, straight and flat tea stem, as well as sharp seedling. The shoot is longer than the leaf and the tea dregs are as delicate as flowers. Therefore, a superior Longjing Tea is light green in leaf, bright in tea color and tasty in flavor. As the tea quality decreases, the appearance and color will change from peak green, dark green to blackish green; and the tea leaves from small to big, the tea stems from smooth to rough.

據民間傳說，乾隆品嘗龍井茶后為其傾倒，親自在龍井茶區采摘了一些嫩芽夾在書中帶回皇宮。嫩芽夾在書中時間久了，脫水后形扁平挺秀，皇后非常喜歡，指定此種形狀的龍井茶為貢茶。此后，茶農便按照此標準炒制上貢，并流傳至今。

According to Chinese folk tales, Qianlong, the emperor of Qing Dynasty, was deeply attracted by the Longjing Tea at his first sip. Then he personally picked up some tender shoots from the Longjing Tea Area, clipped them in pages of books, and brought them back to the imperial palace. After being clipped in books for a long time, the shoots began to dehydrate and manifested themselves as flat, straight and graceful appearance. That captured the very heart of the queen, who later designated Longjing Tea with such shape as tribute tea. Since then, tea growers have roasted teas based on this standard and paid them as tribute to the emperor.

炒青工藝晉級中國非遺

Roasting Tea Craftsmanship Was Promoted As China's Intangible Cultural Heritage

得天獨厚的環境優勢，奠定了西湖龍井的品質基礎，規范嚴格的炒青工藝，則將這種天賦的品質進一步提升。

The unique environmental advantages have laid solid foundations for West Lake Longjing Tea, while the strictly specified roasting process has enhanced this natural quality to a higher level.

標準的西湖龍井炒青工藝全部由手工完成，包括青鍋和輝鍋兩個流程：先將茶葉放至青鍋，在高溫下不斷變換炒制手法，將茶葉含水量由75%降低至25%～30%；攤開冷卻1小時后，放至輝鍋，通過抓、推、扣、磨、壓等動作使茶葉定型。鮮茶炒制完成后，含水量為6%左右。這種獨特的炒青工藝，于2009年被評為“中國非物質文化遺產”。

The typical roasting processes of West Lake Longjing Tea are all finished by hand, including green pot and Hui pot.These two processes are as below. First, put tea leaves into the green pot, roast them with different methods under high temperature, dehydrate their water content from 75%to 25%～30%; spread them evenly and cool them for an hour, put tea leaves into the Hui pot, shape them by grasping, pushing, buckling,grinding and pressing. After the roasting of fresh tea leaves, their water content would decrease to about 6%. This unique roasting craftsmanship was thus rated as intangible cultural heritage of China in 2009.

結 語

Conclusion龍井，誕于西湖群山幽僻之地，后以貢茶聞名于天下。“啜飲淡然，似乎無味，此無味之味乃至味也”，在極致的味覺享受之余，更是禪茶之道“和”精神的延伸，在淡雅中，顛覆平凡。

Longjing Tea, originated in the secluded mountains of West Lake, has been known to the world as tribute tea."A usual sip seemingly tastes nothing, but tasteless is the supreme taste in the world." Along with the greatest taste enjoyment, the essence of Zen teathe Spirit of Harmony has been extended. In such a simple and elegant atmosphere, let's enjoy something special.

（支持單位：上海市質量和標準化研究院）