武夷岩茶四大名丛 铁罗汉、白鸡冠、水金龟、半天妖

现今武夷岩茶四大名丛分别是：铁罗汉、白鸡冠、水金龟、半天妖。

大红袍之前也是武夷山四大名丛之一，后来成为单独的品种，半天妖才有机会填补大红袍的空缺，进入四大名丛的行列之中。

铁罗汉

铁罗汉相传起源于宋朝，是武夷山最早的名丛。

它的茶树生长在慧苑的内鬼洞，也有说长在马头或竹窠。

清代的郭柏苍在《闽产录异》中记载：“铁罗汉为武夷宋树名，叶长。”可见铁罗汉早在宋代就已经相当出名。

铁罗汉干茶看上去色泽绿褐油润带宝色，条索粗壮紧结匀整，乍看似水仙。

由于它耐火性高，能经得起较高程度的焙火，其内质经过高火功的烘焙之后得以醇化，口感更加饱满醇厚。

闻之有轻雅的药香、兰花香，刚入口时有些涩感，但很快回甘、生津，其滋味浓烈醇厚，岩韵特强。

白鸡冠

白鸡冠的茶树原生于慧苑的外鬼洞，又有说在止止庵白蛇洞口的。

其树种不大，枝干坚实，分枝较多。老叶略显淡绿，幼叶薄如绸，显金黄色，有似鸡冠，所以得名“白鸡冠”。

相传宋代道教南宗五祖白玉蟾在止止庵做主持时，发现并培育了白鸡冠这个茶种。

或许是因为白鸡冠与道家的深厚渊源，使得白鸡冠成为一款能够代表道家思想的茶。

它是岩茶中最好辨别的，制作好后，条索依旧保持了黄色的特点。

我们平时见到的炭焙岩茶（轻火茶），比如奇兰、水仙、肉桂，颜色多为深绿色系，而白鸡冠却是黄绿色的。

其干茶外形紧结、色泽墨绿带黄，比其他名丛干茶颜色要浅。

冲泡后，汤色橙黄明亮，入口甘淡留香，符合甘、醇、鲜、滑的特点。

大多数的岩茶，是花香、果香，而白鸡冠滋味独特而丰富，淡淡的艾草香、玉米须香，间或是清甜香、药草香。

水金龟

水金龟的茶树原产于牛栏坑峰岩上端，属于天心寺之产物。

相传有一天倾盆大雨，茶园崩塌，茶树滑到了坑底的牛栏坑。这里的兰谷茶厂主便筑阶护围，并且旁边有细流浸润，便命名为“水金龟”。

天心寺和兰谷岩茶厂为争夺此茶多次诉讼，耗资千金。

后来官衙以“乃天力所造，非人所为”将该茶判给了兰谷厂，水金龟由此名声大噪。

水金龟，是四大名丛中最为“清”的名丛。

其香清幽、汤色清澈、滋味清爽。大有铁观音的甘醇，又有绿茶的清香。

干茶条索墨绿带润，略微泛白，比起铁罗汉稍显瘦弱。

“腊梅花香”是它爆红最重要的原因，香气幽长清远，似腊梅花香；滋味浓厚甘甜，润滑爽口，岩韵显；口感具有香浓，持久的特点；汤水浓而醇，无明显苦涩感。

半天妖

半天妖的母树生长于九龙窠南侧的三花峰上。

相传此茶非人力所植，是鹞子衔来的茶籽落在这里生长起来的，所以得名“半天鹞”，后来又被误名为“半天妖”、“半天腰”等等。

“妖”亦指茶的滋味有别于其他岩茶，是一种捉摸不透的味道，似乎自带一股香气滋味，丰富多变，不好掌握。

半天妖干茶条索紧结，乌褐油亮；香气浓郁、汤色橙红清澈。

入口给人有微麻的特别之感，入喉后回甘明显。

叶底绿而柔韧，有红边，略有香气。

英语翻译

The four famous clusters of Wuyi Rock Tea are: Iron Arhat, White Cockscomb, Water Golden Tortoise, and Bantian Demon.

Dahongpao was also one of the four famous clusters of Wuyi Mountain before, and later became a separate species. It took a long time for the demon to fill the vacancy of Dahongpao and enter the ranks of the four famous clusters.

Iron Luohan

According to legend, Tie Luohan originated in the Song Dynasty and is the earliest famous cluster in Wuyi Mountain.

Its tea trees grow in the inner ghost cave of Huiyuan, and it is also said that they grow on horse heads or bamboo pits.

Guo Baicang of the Qing Dynasty recorded in his "Records of Differences in Fujian Province": "Tie Luohan is the name of the Wuyi Song tree, and the leaf is long." It can be seen that Tie Luohan was already quite famous as early as the Song Dynasty.

Tieluohan dry tea looks green, brown, oily and rich in color.

Because of its high fire resistance, it can withstand a higher degree of roasting, and its inner substance can be mellowed after roasting with high fire work, and the taste is more full and mellow.

There is a light and elegant fragrance of medicine and orchids, and it is astringent when you first taste it, but it quickly regains sweetness and mellowness. The taste is strong and mellow, and the rock rhyme is very strong.

White Cockscomb

The tea tree of White Cockscomb is native to the Waigui Cave of Huiyuan, and it is said that it is at the mouth of the White Snake Cave of Zhizhi'an.

The tree species is not large, with solid branches and many branches. The old leaves are slightly greenish, and the young leaves are as thin as silk and golden yellow, and they resemble cockscombs, hence the name "white cockscomb".

According to legend, Bai Yuchan, the fifth ancestor of Taoism Nanzong in the Song Dynasty, discovered and cultivated the white cockscomb tea species when he was the presiding officer of Zhizhi'an.

Perhaps because of the deep relationship between white chicken comb and Taoism, white chicken comb has become a tea that can represent Taoist thought.

It is the best distinguished among rock tea. After being made, the rope still maintains its yellow characteristic.

The charcoal roasted rock tea (light fire tea) we usually see, such as Qilan, narcissus, and cinnamon, is mostly dark green in color, while the white cockscomb is yellow-green.

Its dry tea is tight in appearance and dark green with yellow in color, which is lighter than other famous Cong dry teas.

After brewing, the color of the soup is bright orange and yellow, and the mouth is sweet and fragrant, which is in line with the characteristics of sweetness, mellow, freshness and smoothness.

Most of the rock tea has a floral and fruity fragrance, while the white cockscomb has a unique and rich flavor, with a touch of wormwood, corn silk, and sometimes sweet, medicinal fragrance.

Water beetle

The tea tree of the water beetle is native to the upper part of the Niulankeng Peak Rock and belongs to the product of Tianxin Temple.

According to legend, one day it rained heavily, the tea plantation collapsed, and the tea trees slid to the Niulan Pit at the bottom of the pit. The owner of the Langu tea factory here built steps to protect it, and there was a trickle infiltrated next to it, so it was named "water beetle".

Tianxin Temple and Langu Rock Tea Factory have litigated many times for this tea, costing a lot of money.

Later, the official government sentenced the tea to Languchang as "made by the power of heaven, not by humans", and the water beetle became famous.

The water beetle is the most "clear" of the four famous names.

Its fragrance is quiet, the soup is clear, and the taste is refreshing. It has the sweetness of Tieguanyin and the fragrance of green tea.

The dried tea sticks are dark green and moist, slightly white, and slightly thinner than the iron Luohan.

The most important reason for its redness is the "scent of winter plum blossoms". The scent is long and clear, resembling the fragrance of winter plum blossoms; the taste is rich and sweet, smooth and refreshing, and the rocky charm is obvious; the taste has the characteristics of fragrant and long-lasting; the soup is thick and mellow, without obvious bitterness feel.

Half sky demon

The half-day demon's mother tree grows on the Sanhua Peak on the south side of Jiulongyu.

According to legend, this tea is not planted by humans. It was grown here by the tea seeds held by the harrier, so it was named "Half-Tian Harrier", which was later mistakenly named "Haan-Tian Yao", "Haan-Tian Yao" and so on.

"Monster" also means that the taste of tea is different from other rock teas. It is an unpredictable taste. It seems to have an aroma and taste, which is rich and changeable and difficult to grasp.

Half a day, the demon dry tea sticks are tightly knotted, dark brown and oily; the aroma is strong, and the soup is orange-red and clear.

The entrance gives people a special feeling of slight numbness, and the sweetness is obvious after entering the throat.

The bottom of the leaf is green and flexible, with red edges and a slight fragrance.