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顶级茶叶可说是
「被遗忘的茶叶」。If you're looking around for some new premium grade teas to try out, you're in the right place.
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那天我喝完了我仅存的最爱茶叶
来源：Austin Yoder 2013/10/26 发表于 The News Lens 关键评论网
Photo Credit: 陈镜 CHEN-CHING 翻译／红凯利
物以稀为贵向来是不变的真理，在茶叶中，更是如此。
最近，我和朋友David已经将我们的最爱——2012年春季采收的木栅铁观音喝完，库存也已售罄，完完全全的一滴不剩了。
没了！
一滴不剩！
再也喝不到了！
我们仅有的铁观音库存是真的都没有了！
为何会感到如此惋惜呢？木栅铁观音这款茶可是被我们评为98分的顶级茶叶，更是我个人最喜欢的品种之一。因此，如果你愿意的话，我想要与大家分享这款茶叶为何如此抢手的故事。
整体台湾茶业
为了了解2012木栅铁观音为何如此受到欢迎，我们必须从台湾整体茶业着手。首先，根据台湾农业局，台湾在2011年一年内，茶叶出口超过1700万公斤，市价更是超过2.3亿美元。或许数据不会百分百准确，但是也给大家一个粗略概况了。
虽然说1700万公斤听起来很多，但是很大一部份都是拿来做「饮料用」的茶叶比例，这种茶叶很容易在超商内的瓶装罐找到，或是大型零售商如好市多。而另外一部份比例则是中低价位的散茶包装。
什么是饮料用茶叶呢？
在制造顶级茶叶的过程中，会有散茶产生。而饮料用茶叶就是由粉末、茶叶末、茎叶以及散茶所制成。当工厂机器大量处理散茶时，会通过不同的传送带以及不同程度的干燥机以增加茶叶的蓬松程度，并且最后以茶叶重量做分类。在这过程中，某些叶子会不完整，而这就是因应而生的「副产品」，这些副产品相较于「产品」而言，当然便宜许多。因此，这就是为何我们在超商可以买到低于三十元的罐装绿茶或是其他各式不同的茶类。
那什么又是中低价位的茶呢？
中低茶叶，其实就是散装茶业，仍然是松散的散茶。但是，与饮料茶不同的是，它依然会让人想要不时地喝一喝，差别就像是你吃麦当劳的汉堡和拉斯韦加斯赌场饭店中提供由神户牛肉和龙虾制作要价777美元的汉堡。
饮料罐装茶及中低价位茶叶差别在于一个只是单纯的解渴，而另外一个则是一种体验，让你创造出一种可以与家人朋友分享的新故事。
那，顶级茶叶呢？
说真的，顶级茶叶在台湾出口比例中也不过一季20至30公斤，更甚，是一年的出产量；这代表台湾一年顶级茶叶出口是低于100公斤的。
再举个例子好了，顶级大禹岭乌龙茶2012年冬季收获仅20公斤，台湾本地茶客就买了一半。另外一半进入市场后，在短短一星期内销售完毕。
一年产量仅20公斤，再加上顶级茶叶进入市场的日期准确被本地消费者知道时，其实可以发现台湾茶叶是不被世界其他地区所熟知的，因为这些顶级茶叶并没有一个机会可以外销到台湾以外的地区。
顶级茶叶可说是「被遗忘的茶叶」。
售罄的木栅铁观音
有了以上的对茶业粗略的认知，让我们谈谈木栅铁观音。
我所拥有的木栅铁观音产于2012春季，少于60公斤，有着绝妙的烟味、焦糖味、单宁味，甚至是草莓或是蔓越莓等果香。这茶是如此的绝妙，使我对木栅铁观音可说是爱不释手。
在一般情况下，我们不会完全卖完我们的铁观音，因为每年冬季都还会采收另外一批木栅铁观音。而在正常情况下，这批冬茶也可以制造一样质量的原叶，交给手工业者，使其成为顶级的木栅铁观音。
但是，2012年冬季所产出的木栅铁观音并不如预期。
为什么呢？由于下了一整星期的雨，2012年冬季收采的铁观音，叶子或多或少都被泡烂，且过多水分残留在叶子上会稀释叶子本身的味道。就像是葡萄酒生产商Spriggs of Nyetimber为了酒厂名声以及酿酒的质量，而决定放弃2012年收获的葡萄，即便这使得他们丧失上百万美元的销售额。同样的原因，2012冬季出产的木栅铁观音就这样被放弃了。
看似不起眼的雨水，实则影响了整个作物生长。因此在2012年，木栅铁观音事实上是没有收获的。我们所能做的就是坐下来，看着春季所采收的木栅铁观音渐渐消逝，连同我们个人的木栅铁观音……
直到现在，春季的木栅铁观音库存量也没有了，全然售罄，连自己想喝的都没了。现在，只能等到2013年春季三月左右的收获期了。想想几乎整整两个月没有木栅铁观音的日子！（前提假设是春季的收成将会是足够的！）
但我为何要写这篇文章呢？
不是为了危言耸听台湾岛上即将没有木栅铁观音，只是想要强调像我这样爱茶成痴的人，对于这样喝不到顶级茶叶是有多么的难过。
当你寻找到惊艳味蕾的茶时，其产量或许是十分稀少。如果你真正享受喝茶，但是偶尔会将茶当作礼物送给亲朋好友、客户等，大量购买或许是你需要考虑的。毕竟，一旦茶没有了，就是没有了。谁都无法保证下一季的产量会是多少（和酒的供应变化是一样的道理），又或是质量是否可与之比拟。
每日一问
当你喜爱的茶或是酒都已经全数售罄时，你会怎么做呢？
The Story of How Our Favorite Oolong Tea (Muzha Tieguanyin) Ran Out
Good things come in small quantities. Or, at least, that's the case when it comes to tea.
David and I recently ran out one of our favorite teas, the Spring 2012 Muzha Tieguanyin. And when I say "all of it" I mean there's nothing left of it.
Zip.
Zilch.
Nada.
All of our in-store stock, all of our personal stock, everything is gone and we can never get it back.
We rated this tea at 98 points out of 100, our highest tea rating ever. This was one of my personal favorite teas ever and as such I wanted to share the story of how and why it sold out. A fond farewell, if you will.
Big Picture on Taiwan Tea
To understand how and why our 2012 Muzha Tieguanyin sold out, we need to take a look at the tea industry in Taiwan as a whole.
There were over 17 million kilograms exported out of Taiwan in 2011 alone, a market value of over USD $230m according to Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture. (Though this data is not 100% accurate, it gives a fair idea of the overall volume of tea exported out of Taiwan.)
While 17 million kilograms of tea sounds like a lot, a large percentage of this tea is 'beverage' grade tea. The type of tea that goes into making bottled tea drinks found in convenience stores like 7-11, or large retail outlets like Costco. Another large percentage of that 17 million kilograms of tea is low-medium grade loose leaf tea.
What Is 'Beverage' Grade Tea?
Beverage grade tea – bottled iced green tea from 7-11 in Taiwan Beverage grade tea is made from the dust and fannings, stems, and leaf particulate created while processing higher quality loose leaf tea. When loose leaf tea is processed in bulk in factories with industrial machinery, it gets passed over different conveyor belts, passed through different drying racks and sorted by blowing air over the tea leaves (which separates them by weight).
In all of this blowing and bumping about, the tea leaves break down some. Little pieces of leaf fall off the full tea leaf.
Because this tea is the byproduct of producing and packaging higher quality loose leaf tea it is extraordinarily cheap. The low price of this leafy byproduct is the reason you can pop into a convenience store in Taiwan and pick up a bottle of 'iced green tea beverage' for less than one US dollar.
What is Low-Medium Grade Tea?
Low-medium grade loose leaf tea is bulk tea. While it is still loose leaf tea, and it is still pleasant enough to drink from time to time, it's like the difference between a McDonalds hamburger (bulk, low quality) and a gourmet burger like the 777 burger made with Kobe beef and Maine lobster at Pairs Las Vegas.
The difference between low-medium grade tea is the difference between something you simply drink, and something that is an experience, something that creates a story you can share with your friends and family.
High Quality, Premium Grade Teas
High quality, truly premium-grade teas in Taiwan are sometimes only produced in quantities of 20 – 30 kilograms per season, or per year. This means that many premium teas in Taiwan are produced in quantities lower than 100 kgs per year. To give you an idea of how much (little) 100 kgs is, see this kind of scrawny dude deadlift 100 kgs on Youtube.
For example, only about 20 kgs of the super premium Dayuling Oolong Tea we secured from the Winter 2012 harvest was ever produced. Local Taiwan tea drinkers bought half of it up two days after it went on the market, and within one week, it was entirely sold out.
When local consumers in Taiwan know exactly the day of the month when the best quality premium tea is going to be released into the market and there's only 20 kgs of it produced for the entire year, it's easy to see why many premium grade teas from Taiwan are simply lost to the rest of the world. They almost never stand a chance of being seen outside of Taiwan.
They are "lost teas," if you will.
Sold Out: Muzha Tieguanyin
With this big picture on Taiwan Tea in mind, let's bring it back to our Muzha Tieguanyin.
Our Muzha Tieguanyin was from the Spring 2012 crop, and less than 60 kgs of it was ever produced. It had amazing notes of smoke, caramel, great tannins, and even some strawberry or cranberry action going on. Because this tea was so unique, it was my personal favorite tea of the whole year.
Ordinarily, we wouldn't have sold out of our Tieguanyin at all, because there is a Winter crop of Tieguanyin produced in Muzha every year. Usually, this Winter crop will produce similar quality raw tea leaves that artisanal producers can use to make outstanding premium gradeMuzha Tieguanyin.
HOWEVER…
This year's Winter 2012 crop of Muzha Tieguanyin was not up to par.
Why?
It was raining the entire week that farmers harvested their Winter 2012 Tieguanyin, making the leaves somewhat bloated with water, diluting heir flavor. Just like Wine Maker Cherie Spriggs of Nyetimber decided to forego the entire 2012 harvest of grapes and miss out on millions of dollars in sales in order to preserve the quality and reputation of the Nyetimber winery, the artisanal producers we work with decided to forego the entire crop of Winter 2012 Muzha Tieguanyin.
This seemingly insignificant thing, the fact that it rained for the whole week the tea leaves were being harvested, negatively affected the entire crop. As such, we had no super premium Muzha Tieguanyin to sell from the Winter 2012 harvest. All we could do through the new year was sit back and watch as we sold out of all of our remaining
Spring 2012 crop, and all of our personal supply.
Now, there's simply none of it left, and we sadly won't be able to sell any more of it (worse yet, drink any of it) until the Spring 2013 crop rolls around in March. Almost two full months without Muzha Tieguanyin, assuming that the Spring 2013 crops are up to snuff.
Why Write This Post?
I'm not writing this post to be alarmist or to say that no other good quality Muzha Tieguanyin exists on the whole island of Taiwan. I'm writing this post just to emphasize one of the sad realities of premium tea for those out there who enjoy drinking it as much as I do:
When you find a tea that knocks your socks off, there may not be very much of it around. If you truly enjoy a tea and want to be able to drink it for a few months out of the year, or give it as a gift to your friends, family, clients etc., you may have to consider buying it in relatively large quantities while supplies last. Because, sadly, once it's gone it's simply gone, and there's no getting it back. There is no guarantee that next season's crop (just like yearly variation in wine) will be of comparable quality.
If you're looking around for some new premium grade teas to try out, you're in the right place. Although our Muzha Tieguanyin is entirely sold out until (hopefully) Spring 2013, we still have a range of other premium grade teas available through our online tea store, which you can browse through here.
Question of the Day
What do you do when you run out of your favorite tea (or wine)?
Sourse：Austin Yoder 2013/10/26 The News Lens
Photo Credit: CHEN-CHING 陈镜