对铁观音的认识误区

铁观音是很多茶友日常必备的口粮茶，有着“七泡有余香”的美誉，但在其发展过程中，很多茶友对铁观音的认知出现了偏差。

误解一:铁观音是绿茶?

尽管很多人每天都在喝铁观音，但至今也不知道铁观音是乌龙茶，还是我国乌龙茶的四大代表之一(铁观音、武夷岩茶、凤凰单丛、台湾乌龙)。之所以会有很多茶友认为铁观音是绿茶，是因为铁观音的口感实在是太像绿茶了。以致于很多茶友喝上了铁观音，就放弃了曾经喜欢的绿茶，因为它既比绿茶更香，又比绿茶更具有滋味感。

上世纪90年代以前，铁观音一直以发酵较高的传统工艺为主，在当时的市场上，绿茶占据绝对主导，尤其是北方市场，往往更注重茶的香气。随着我国台湾清香工艺传入安溪，铁观音的风格发生了巨大的转变，发酵度降低，口感也变得更加清香鲜爽。

铁观音迎合北方市场的改变，很快得到了认可。清香型铁观音一经推出大杀四方，以致于在整个90年代，都是属于铁观音的时代。时至今日，在北方茶友的心中，铁观音都有着极为特殊的地位。很多人的第一口乌龙茶都是属于铁观音的。

误解二:铁观音为什么没有红边?

这就要说到“去红边”的工艺，简单说就是在炒青后揉搓或摔打茶叶使得做青时形成的红边脱落，一是保证茶汤绿亮明净，二是避免炒青时的高温闷坏茶叶，三是让炒青的茶叶回潮，促进梗叶水分平衡，为后续的包揉工艺奠定基础。

铁观音破碎的茶叶碎末叶底的叶缘呈现为不规则的锯齿状，这是去红边工艺导致的，破碎脱落的茶叶末在包揉时被包裹在茶叶里，冲泡时得以释放出来。

这种去红边的工艺，在传统铁观音的制法中是没有的。因为两种工艺的做青制法不同，也正是因为我们喝到的铁观音多数叶片是没有红边的，所以才加深了我们认为铁观音是绿茶的错误印象。

误解三:懂茶的人都不喝铁观音吗?

这句话其实可以理解成:懂茶的人并不喜欢喝清香型的铁观音。上世纪90年代以前，铁观音一直以发酵较高的传统工艺为主，后来铁观音逐渐清香化。清香的工艺发酵度更低，所以当地人习惯性的称之为生茶，被认为会有更强的刺激感。而这种口感，虽然让铁观音失去了一部分的南方市场，却在钟爱香气的北方市场势如破竹。

而当铁观音走向清香风格的路线之后才发现，茶树的茶龄对茶的香气有重要影响。所以将更多的老树砍掉转而种上了新丛，虽然后来发现，十年以上的老丛也有很好的香气，但为时已晚。

时至今日，安溪当地遍地都是适合制作清香型的茶树，而即便是用这样的茶青再去按照传统工艺来制作，也不是那个味道了。这也是有人会说懂茶的人不喝铁观音的根本原因。

那么清香型到底好不好，难道清香型的铁观音要注定背上骂名吗?其实未必，远没有那么严重。至少对于普通的茶友来说，我们提到铁观音，想到的便是清香型的正味铁观音，这也早已被列入了常规的口粮清单。至于清香型与传统型孰优孰劣，也只是茶余饭后的谈资罢了。

误解四:为什么铁观音火不起来?

有此疑问的多数是年轻茶友，没有经历过上个世纪90年代铁观音的风靡，那时的天价茶不是普洱，也不是岩茶白茶，而是被冠以“茶王”之称的铁观音。

在当时只要是在工艺上稍加改动，便会成为抢手货，比如按照杀青时间的早晚，出现了消青与拖补(脱普)的工艺。

我们常遇到的清香型铁观音可分为正味铁观音、消青、托酸三种。消青原本应该在采摘后第二天上午的炒制，拖到中午或是下午;靠近中午称为消正，靠近下午则称为消酸，如果将炒制的时间再拖延到第三天的凌晨，则称之为托酸。

正味铁观音最为典型，其干茶色泽不怎么鲜活，但论香气的雅致当属第一，最接近传统工艺;托酸的铁观音香气最高，但茶汤明显带酸。因消青与脱酸工艺对肠胃的刺激过大，才导致了很多人不再喝铁观音。

事实上，如果只是规规矩矩做正味铁观音，铁观音远不至于被贴上刺激过强的标签。即便如此，正味铁观音凭借雅致的兰香，依然快速占领了市场，甚至在当时的很多家庭，铁观音都是招待客人的上乘之选。时至今日，依然有很多老人坚持这样的思想。

误解五:“春水秋香”，铁观音只能喝秋茶?

这样的说法，其根源在于对香气的追求，我们平时喝铁观音，往往关注的正是香气，所以高香的秋茶才受到众多茶友的追捧。春天的茶青往往内质丰富，氨基酸的含量和果胶的含量都会更高，所以口感醇厚是其主要的特点。而秋高气爽有利于芳香物质的形成，也就表现为比春茶更香。

虽然铁观音秋茶可遇而不可求，但同等级的春茶，甚至也许只需要不到秋茶一半的预算，而除了香气略弱一些之外，其他方面的表现依然惊艳。所以把高等级的春茶当做常规的口粮茶，或许是一个不错的选择。

Tieguanyin is a daily essential ration tea for many tea lovers. It has the reputation of "seven bubbles with lingering fragrance". However, in the process of its development, many tea lovers have deviations in their understanding of Tieguanyin.

Misunderstanding 1: Tieguanyin is green tea?

Although many people drink Tieguanyin every day, they still don't know that Tieguanyin is oolong tea, or one of the four representatives of oolong tea in China (Tieguanyin, Wuyi Rock Tea, Phoenix Dancong, Taiwan Oolong). The reason why many tea lovers think that Tieguanyin is green tea is because the taste of Tieguanyin is too much like green tea. As a result, many tea lovers drank Tieguanyin and gave up the green tea they once liked, because it is more fragrant than green tea, and has a better taste than green tea.

Before the 1990s, Tieguanyin had always used traditional crafts with higher fermentation. In the market at that time, green tea was absolutely dominant, especially in the northern market, which tended to pay more attention to the aroma of tea. With the introduction of Taiwan's fragrance technology to Anxi, Tieguanyin's style has undergone a huge change, the degree of fermentation has decreased, and the taste has become more fragrant and fresh.

Tieguanyin catered to the changes in the northern market and quickly gained recognition. Once the fragrance-type Tieguanyin was launched, the whole 90s belonged to the era of Tieguanyin. Today, Tieguanyin has a very special status in the hearts of tea lovers in the north. Many people's first sip of oolong tea belongs to Tieguanyin.

Misunderstanding 2: Why doesn't Tieguanyin have a red border?

This is about the process of "removing the red edges", which is simply to rub or beat the tea leaves after frying to make the red edges formed when making the tea fall off. One is to ensure that the tea soup is bright and clean, and the other is to avoid the high temperature during frying. To suffocate the tea, the third is to let the roasted green tea regain moisture, promote the water balance of the stems and leaves, and lay the foundation for the subsequent wrapping and kneading process.

Tieguanyin's broken tea leaves have irregular jagged edges at the bottom of the leaves. This is caused by the red edge removal process. The broken tea leaves are wrapped in the tea when they are kneaded and released during brewing.

This process of removing the red edges is not available in the traditional Tieguanyin manufacturing method. Because the two methods of making green tea are different, and it is precisely because most of the leaves of Tieguanyin we drink do not have red edges, it deepens the wrong impression that we think Tieguanyin is green tea.

Misunderstanding 3: Does anyone who knows tea drink Tieguanyin?

This sentence can actually be understood as: people who know tea don't like to drink Tieguanyin with a fragrance. Before the 1990s, Tieguanyin had always been based on traditional crafts with high fermentation. Later, Tieguanyin gradually deodorized. The craftsmanship of Qingxiang is less fermented, so the locals habitually call it raw tea, which is considered to have a stronger sense of stimulation. And this taste, although Tieguanyin lost a part of the southern market, but it is like a broken bamboo in the northern market that loves fragrance.

It was only after Tieguanyin took the route of the fragrance style that it was discovered that the age of the tea tree has an important influence on the aroma of the tea. Therefore, more old trees were cut down and planted in new bushes. Although it was later discovered that old bushes more than ten years old also had a good fragrance, it was too late.

Today, Anxi is full of tea trees that are suitable for making fresh-scented tea trees, and even if it is made with such a green tea according to the traditional craftsmanship, it is not that taste. This is also the fundamental reason why people who know tea do not drink Tieguanyin.

So is the fragrance type good? Is the fragrance type Tieguanyin destined to be infamy? In fact, it is not necessarily, far less serious. At least for ordinary tea lovers, when we mention Tieguanyin, we think of Tieguanyin with a fresh fragrance, which has already been included in the list of regular rations. As for the fragrant type and the traditional type, which is better, it's just a post-dinner talk.

Misunderstanding 4: Why can't Tieguanyin get hot?

Most of those who have this question are young tea lovers who have not experienced the popularity of Tieguanyin in the 1990s. The sky-high tea at that time was neither Pu'er nor Yancha white tea, but Tieguanyin known as the "Tea King". Guanyin.

At that time, as long as the process was slightly changed, it would become a popular product. For example, according to the time of the finalization, the process of eliminating and delaying (tripping) appeared.

The fragrance Tieguanyin that we often encounter can be divided into three types: Zhengwei Tieguanyin, Xiaoqing, and tropic acid. Xiaoqing was originally supposed to be fried in the morning the next day after picking, and it was delayed until noon or afternoon; it was called Xiaozheng near noon, and it was called acid elimination if it was near noon. If the time of frying was postponed to the third day In the early morning, it is called tropoic acid.

Zhengwei Tieguanyin is the most typical, its dry tea color is not very fresh, but it is the first in terms of the elegance of the aroma, which is the closest to traditional crafts; the Tieguanyin of troponic acid has the highest aroma, but the tea soup is obviously sour. Because the anti-greening and deacidification process stimulates the stomach and intestines too much, many people no longer drink Tieguanyin.

In fact, if Tieguanyin is just being used in a proper manner, Tieguanyin is far from being labeled as excessively stimulating. Even so, Zhengwei Tieguanyin still quickly occupied the market with its elegant orchid incense. Even in many families at that time, Tieguanyin was a good choice for entertaining guests. To this day, there are still many elderly people who insist on this kind of thinking.

Misunderstanding 5: "Spring water and autumn fragrance", Tieguanyin can only drink autumn tea?

The root of this statement lies in the pursuit of aroma. We usually drink Tieguanyin and often focus on the aroma. Therefore, the high-scent autumn tea is sought after by many tea lovers. Spring tea greens are often rich in endoplasm, and the content of amino acids and pectin will be higher, so the mellow taste is its main feature. The coolness of autumn is conducive to the formation of aromatic substances, which is more fragrant than spring tea.

Although autumn tea can be encountered but not sought, the same level of spring tea may even require less than half the budget of autumn tea, and besides the slightly weaker aroma, other aspects of performance are still amazing. Therefore, it may be a good choice to treat high-grade spring tea as a regular ration tea.