文/五花肉

祁红特绝群芳最

Keemun——Queen of Black Tea

文/五花肉

红茶，是我国第二大茶类，与绿茶的清新怡人不同，红茶属全发酵茶，醇厚甘美，色泽红艳，在世界范围内深受喜爱。其中，祁门红茶最为知名，有“红茶皇后”的美誉。

Black tea is the second-most consumed tea in China. Instead of green tea’s fresh and pleasant features, black tea enjoys high reputation in the world for its fully fermentation, mellow fl avor and red color. Keemun black tea,known as “the queen of black tea”, is the most distinguished variety.

等级区分质量标准Quality Grade Standard

“祁红特绝群芳最，清誉高香不二门”，说的就是祁门红茶特有的香气，以香叶醇、苯甲醇和2-苯乙醇为特征，似花、似果、似蜜，名曰“祁门香”。

As the Chinese poem goes, “where there is Keemum black tea, there is pleasant tea aroma”. The floral,fruity and honey aroma of Keemum black tea is full of geraniol, benzyl alcohol and 2-phenylethanol, known as the Keemun aroma.

祁门红茶由安徽茶农创制于光绪年间，产自安徽祁门，其制作技艺多为师徒传承，不为外人所道。根据地方标准DB 34/T 1086-2009《祁门红茶》规定，祁门工夫红茶按品质差异，分为特茗、特级、一级～五级，祁红香螺、祁红毛峰按品质差异，分为特级、一级、二级，主要以芽叶的外形、色泽、香气、汤色等因素作为评判标准。

Originating from Qimen Country of Anhui Province,Keemun black tea was produced by the local tea growers during the Guangxu Period and developed secretly by master-apprentice inheritance. According to the local standard DB34/T1086-2009 Keemun Black Tea, the quality grade of Keemum Kung Fu black tea can be divided into premium, superior, and grade one to five; the quality grade of Keemun Mao Feng and Keemun Neptunea are divided into superior,grade one and grade two. The shape of bud leaves,color, aroma, liquor color and etc. are the standards for evaluation..

采制标准独树一帜Unique Standard in Picking and Processing

做好鲜叶采摘是保障茶叶品质的第一件大事。祁红每年四月开采春茶6～7批，夏茶采4～5批，采集时对鲜叶嫩度要求较高，一般每芽只采1～2叶。

Picking fresh tea leaves is the top priority for guaranteeing the tea quality. Every April, 6 to 7 batches of Keemun spring tea and 4 to 5 batches of Keemun summer tea are to be picked. As there is a high requirement on Keemun black tea, merely 1 or 2 leaves will be picked from each bud each time.

祁红的前期制作要求“现采现制”，避免因贮藏损伤鲜叶中的有效成分，以保持祁红成茶鲜香浓郁的气味。高品质祁红采摘完成后仅用4～5个小时就会完成萎凋和揉捻两道工序，进入发酵环节。

To avoid damaging the effective ingredients of the fresh leaves during the storage and maintain the fresh and rich aroma of Keemun black tea, the fresh tea leaves should be put into production immediately once the picking process is completed. Then, it takes only 4 to 5 hours to complete withering and rolling process,and next, it’s the fermentation process.

发酵孕育醇厚甘美Fermentation for Mellow Taste

红茶是发酵茶，精心发酵是决定红茶品质的关键工序。

As black tea belongs to fermented tea, the quality depends on elaborate fermentation.

发酵过程对温度、湿度和氧气量都有严格的标准要求。祁门红茶的发酵室温控制在30℃以下，空气湿度保持在90%以上，将揉切好的茶胚装在发酵筐里，盖上温水浸过的发酵布，一般4～6小时后，茶叶中所含的茶多酚逐渐氧化为茶红素，叶脉呈红褐色，即可进行烘焙。经过这一系列规范化的制作工艺，最终实现红茶、红汤、红叶的品质特征。

The temperature, humidity, and oxygen should be strictly controlled during the fermentation process.During the fermentation of Keemun black tea, the room temperature should be under 30 ℃ and the air humidity should be maintained at above 90%. After rolling and cutting the tea leaves, tea growers take the tea buds to the fermented basket and cover them with cloth soaked by warm water. After 4 to 6 hours,the tea polyphenol contained in the tea buds gradually oxidizes into thearubigins, and the baking will be ready when the vein becomes red brown. Following by a series of normalized process, the quality and characteristics of black tea, red liquor and red leaves will be fi nally realized.

结 语Conclusion

茶之千味，不能品尽，正如人生百态，各不相同。有人偏爱绿茶的淡雅清甜，有人沉溺红茶的浓厚醇美，唯有细细品味，才能在或浓或淡、或清或涩中，领悟出不同人生阶段的酸甜苦辣和美丽风景。

Tea has thousands of fl avors and one cannot savor all of them, so does the vicissitudes of everyone's life.Some prefer the fresh and mild green tea, while some indulge the strong and mellow black tea. Nevertheless,only by savoring tea slowly can we understand all kinds of flavors in the different stages of life and learn to appreciate the unbeatable beauties on the way forward.

（支持单位：上海市质量和标准化研究院）