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这款好茶，有咖啡瘾的人
也会一喝就爱上What's the best tea you've ever tasted? This is one of the finest teas I've ever tasted, for my own palate.
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这款好茶，有咖啡瘾的人也会一喝就爱上
来源：Austin Yoder 2013/12/28 发表于 The News Lens 关键评论网
Photo Credit: 陈镜 CHEN-CHING 翻译／红凯利
今天这篇文章跟以往十分不同，或多或少会有些惊人。如果真的是视茶如命的读者们，你一定会欣喜若狂。怎么说呢？今天我只探索一种茶叶，并且一步一步进行不同面向的探讨，而非香气及味道而已。
因此，这篇文章跟以往文章差异极大。如果你认为只讨论一种茶叶的文章会有些无趣，那你就大错特错了。在Tearroir，品茶是一件非常严肃且神圣的事情。我们品茶不只品感觉，而是有步骤地一步一步逐层分析所有的感官享受。
接下来我将带你重新认识「木栅铁观音」这一款茶。
首先要跟大家说明评分制度，评分制度并不是创举，而是仿效品酒的分数制度。如果你有兴趣的话，可以点开百分制评茶制度做更进一步的了解。
以下我给这款茶的评分：
中段味道：9
口感/尾韵：10
整体感觉：9
总分：98
泡茶师傅简介
高阙胜夫老师，来自三代传承的制茶家族，对茶可说是了如指掌，并以出产高质量的茶自豪。不仅如此，更以相对低的价钱卖给消费者，其实体商店就位于他的红瓦古厝。过去十五年间，高阙夫不仅仅制茶，也常担任台湾茶叶/ 制茶比赛的评审。
他大学毕业后，开了一家印刷铺。然而，某天，实在受够蛮横肆端的鼠祸们以及十分伤身的化学药剂，他决定反璞归真、过回较为「平淡、简单的」生活。做完决定24小时内，他立即关闭了印刷铺，重回小时候长大的红瓦古厝，重新开启一段不一样的生活。
高阙胜夫不仅是天才制茶师，更朝向多方位的发展，像是让人赞不绝口的一系列手工饮用醋，以及来自母亲传统配方所制成的发酵黄豆腐乳。这豆腐乳可是百分百纯酒精酿造而成的，许多人尝过这味道后，无时无刻心系这难忘的美好滋味。
茶叶来源
高阙胜夫会依照产品需求跑遍全台湾的茶叶园，因此与全台的茶叶供货商都有着良好的关系。而这层良好的互动，让他拥有茶叶园精挑细选过后，最优质的茶叶。有时，高阙胜夫也会亲自走进茶叶种植园挑选，妻子及两位女儿也会一起帮忙呢。
色泽
高阙胜夫所冲泡的铁观音乌龙茶烘焙味道十分浓郁，而这正是其特点。当人们细细检查茶叶时，你会渐渐的越来越了解你手上的那款茶，从色泽、大小到味道。相较于梨山、福寿山、大吉岭的乌龙茶，铁观音颜色偏暗、稳重。但视觉上赏心悦目，十分地有活力。
香气
你在哪里购买？生产年份、来自世界哪个角落、种植区域在山的哪一侧呢？茶农是怎样的人呢？他们如何采集茶叶，手工还是机器？从产地到购买地，茶叶是如何保存呢？所购买的茶哪一类型的茶呢？对身体健康有益的绿茶？或是美国每一间餐厅都有的茉莉花茶？想想茶的包装，是袋子还是一个大容器呢？上文忘了提到购买葡萄酒时，你喜欢在一般零售店（超市超商）购买？专门贩卖葡萄酒的商店？亦或是直接跟酒庄买？
淡淡蜂蜜味与成熟甜瓜味的确让人心情不自觉飞扬了起来，不同角度又有不同的味道。拿起杯盖，淡淡牛奶味和糖果的甜味扑鼻而来。至今，我仍没有喝过另外一款拥有如此丰富味道的茶，这也是我在香气这类别给予10分满分的原因。
前段至中段的味道
一开始喝这款茶时，其味道和香气差不多。一开始是甜甜的蜂蜜味以及香料味，随后则被淡雅烟草味所取代。虽然彻底地被烘焙过，木栅铁观音所留住的原味，我想只有来自梨山或是福寿山等高山地区的乌龙茶可与之比拟。
高阙胜夫告诉我们，这款茶其实十分适合喜好饮用咖啡或是偏重口味的人。虽然我建议要集中专心体会茶的原味，这款茶却也十分在一天疲劳过后饮用。举凡作家、设计师等劳累的职业，藉由这款茶的味道，可达到良好的舒压效果！
中段口感到后段留在口中的甘甜
一开始，我对这款茶并没有报以太大的期待。喝完后，却完全超出我的预期，实在是太惊人的美妙了！这款茶中后段的味道十分浓郁。虽然刚开始味道只有轻轻在舌尖上跳跃，可是随着时间一分一秒过去，味道逐渐充满整个口腔，就像气球一样慢慢地填满了整个空间。
慢慢的，舌头边缘也一起参与这次的飨宴。
慢慢的，这股芬芳蔓延到喉咙深处。缓慢的体验，就像在炎热的夏天裹上一层滑顺的丝绸床单一般。
最后，就像劲量电池兔子一般，逐渐缓慢地往深处前进。
与David讨论这款茶时，波浪般口感是我们一同下的批注。味道有如波浪般一阵阵的袭来，每一波都令人啧啧称奇。砰一声，第二次、第三次和第四次的口感波浪朝我们席卷而来。
用了各种不同的材质茶具以及水质冲泡，一个小时，我花了整整一个小时用心喝这款茶，再加上高阙胜夫熟练地冲泡技巧，口感在我嘴中不停奔腾。毫无疑问，我爱这款茶。花了一小时喝茶，用尽全身的力量去感受这款茶，所得到的是另外一小时的美好，因为其美妙口感在我口中萦绕不去。这两个小时是我与铁观音美丽的邂逅，买一送一，是不是很吸引人？
品质与小结
整体而言，高阙胜夫所冲泡的铁观音给我的感觉是深刻、持久以及积极的。我给予这款茶高达98分，多层次味道及口感是令人印象最深刻的部分。而冲泡过后的茶叶也不会立即枯萎，而是保有水分及弹性；再加上大部分组成为叶子，因此没有粗糙的口感，所喝下的茶就是最纯粹、最原始的茶。最后，我所看到的叶子都是完整的一片片，不是一团乱糟糟的碎叶，我想这就是为何香气可以如此迷人的原因吧。
不得不说，这真是我喝过最极品的茶了！
你喝过最好的茶是哪一款呢？
Today, we're going to go a little bit crazy.
We're going to go a little bit off the wall, and dive as deeply as we possibly can into reviewing, breaking down, and analyzing one single tea. This post is going to get very detailed – with maybe more information & tasting notes than you'd usually read through.
Who this post is for:
serious tea drinkers and tea enthusiasts who are interested in learning a process to taste teas deeply and systematically. It's for hardcore tea fans & wine appreciators who love getting into the nitty gritty of what they're drinking.
This is an in-depth tea review of Master Oolong Tea, from the Pure Hearts Seeking Tea Teahouse in Muzha, Taiwan. Every time we taste a tea seriously at Tearroir, we go through a systematic tasting process, breaking down each individual component of the tea.
Scoring Breakdown: Oolong Tea
Click here to read more about how we score our teas on a 100 point scale, the same way that people in the wine world score their wines.
Flavor / Mid Palate: 9
Mouthfeel / Finish: 10
Overall Effect: 9
Overall Score: 98
Teamaker Profile
Master family has been making tea for three full generations, a fact which clearly shines through in all of his teas. He takes extreme pride in producing teas of only the highest quality, and keeping his prices relatively low by selling teas out of the first floor of his own home, the home he was born and raised in, to avoid fees for commercial real estate. He has been making teas for the past 15 years, and regularly judges at local tea competitions.
Master ran a printing shop for several years after graduating from college in Taiwan. One day he decided that he had had enough of the rat race, that the chemicals from his printing work were too harsh for his body, and that he wanted a simpler lifestyle. After he decided he wanted a change, he closed his business down inside of 24 hours, and moved back to the house he grew up in to start a business.
Gao Que is not only gifted in teamaking, he also produces a full range of artisanal drinking vinegars (the five-leaf pine vinegar almost made a local friend of mine cry from joy), and a fermented yellow bean tofu preserved in 100% pure alcohol, with the recipe fashioned after his own mother's tofu recipe.
Tea Profile
Gao Que buys his leaves from plantations throughout Taiwan based on the product he wants to make. He has established relationships with tea plantations all over the island. After carefully choosing the best quality tea leaves from his plantation suppliers, he handles the rest of the process himself, occasionally employing the aid of his wife and two daughters.
Color
Master Oolong tea is roasted quite heavily, because as Master says, that is precisely what the tea calls for. While examining the balled tea leaves pre-brew, you get a real sense for how much care went into his tea. It's color, size, spread, are all remarkably uniform.
The dark roasting prevents Oolong from appearing freshly picked like the more delicate Oolong teas from Lishan, Fushou Shan, Da Yu Ling, though it is both vibrant and pleasing to the eye.
Nose
The nose has hints of light honey, warm melon, tobacco, and spices. You can tell from a deep whiff that this is a serious, bold tea which won't apologize for its long roasting. The nose hints at multiple levels of flavor and depth, beginning to unfurl through the nostrils and into the sinus cavities. The heaviness you see in the leaves pre-brew definitely comes through on the nose, though you also begin to sense that this heavy tea is well balanced by the lighter flavor tones I mentioned above: light honey, and warm melon. It's truly a delight to smell, and when you smell from the underside of the lid instead of from your glass, you also pick up sweet tones of milky, sugary candy. I have not tasted many teas with a more interesting and complex nose than this, which prompted me to give it a full 10 / 10.
Flavor (Mid Palate)
Mid palate, this tea is extremely true to its nose. I initially tasted honey and spices, and was overtaken by heavier tones of sweet tobacco and smokiness. While roasted extensively, this darker Oolong manages to retain much of the delicacy you'd only traditionally get from an extremely green high mountain Oolong like a Lishan or Fushou Shan. Master informs that this heavier flavor is quite suited to coffee drinkers, and those tasters who prefer big, bold flavors. It's a tea that will be in your face without knocking on your arse. The Oolong, though it can (and ought to be) tasted in a concentrated, focused environment without any distraction, could equally be consumed while hard at work during the day. Writers, designers, and those with a job that involves a desk can all take respite in bold styling.
Mouthfeel & Finish
Mouthfeel and finish are where Oolong truly exceeded my expectations, standing as a testament to his upbringing in tea. This tea is an extremely full bodied tea, though it begins lightly on your tongue. It starts off small, concentrated, and expands like a balloon being slowly blown up inside of your mouth. It reaches its fingers out, and curls them slowly around the edges of your tongue, pushing up gently on the roof of your mouth, and crawling down the back of your throat like crawling under silk sheets on a hot summer day.
The finish is like a mellow energizer bunny – it kept going and going, but in a calming manner. As I was discussing the tea with David, I got multiple waves of beautiful finish. We would be talking
And suddenly out of nowhere, bam, the second, third, and fourth wave of mouthfeel would Surface up.
This tea stayed with me up to an hour after I finished the tasting, through errands and part of a Chinese class. Only skillfully produced teas prepared with good, soft, mineral water will stay with you for so long. I love it when teas do this, because I get to feel like I'm drinking the tea for twice as long as I sit down to taste it. If I taste for an hour, and the mouthfeel stays with me for an hour after I finish tasting the tea, that's two hours of beautiful Oolong-ness. Almost like a buy-one-get-one-free deal on mouthfeel.
Quality & Conclusion
The overall impression Master Oolong tea left on me was deep, long lasting, and overwhelmingly positive. I scored this tea 98 points, and have no trouble standing by that figure because of the tea's complex nose, mouthfeel, and finish. The leaves post brew were exceptionally springy, and uniformly complete. Very little stem-matter in the mix, so the vast majority of what you're drinking is pure tea. No broken leaves – they were all still fully formed, no particulate mixed in from unknown external sources, and it had an extremely clear finish on the aroma.
This is one of the finest teas I've ever tasted, for my own palate.
Question of the Day
What's the best tea you've ever tasted?
Sourse：Austin Yoder 2013/12/28 The News Lens
Photo Credit: CHEN-CHING 陈镜