文山包種茶其實是一個很有古典味的名字。
包種茶發源於福建安溪，一位茶商用福建的茶葉以及類似武夷“岩茶”的做法，做出帶有花香的新茶，爲了保存這種茶的香氣，會使用兩層毛邊紙包裹成四方包出售，也因此被稱為“包種茶”，因為讀音類似“包中”，所以又有有利考試以及中樂透的吉祥意涵。
19世紀的台灣，只有出產以及外銷台灣烏龍茶（就是我們常會看到有揉捻成球狀的烏龍茶），沒想到1873年歐洲與北美爆發了長期蕭條，台灣烏龍茶又比較貴，四大洋行停止購買茶葉，導致台灣茶產量過剩，當時就開始有一些茶行把茶菁運到福建，利用包種的加工法來製作出這種帶有花香的茶。這種加工法通常運用輕發酵，不烘焙的方式來保留香氣和海苔味，茶湯呈現碧黃綠色，是最接近綠茶的青茶。到了1881年，吳福源先生覺得把茶菁運到福建製造的做法，運輸成本高，風險高，利潤低，於是開始帶著茶師來到台灣，這也是台灣開始製造包種茶的濫觴。1885年，王水錦和魏靜更進一步，舉辦許多講座把新的茶種與製作技術傳給許多茶農，包種茶的產區開始從南港擴大到坪林，石碇，新店，深坑，也就是當時的文山區。包種茶一炮而紅，以當時的文山區產量最大，文山包種茶也成爲台灣的十大茗茶之一。
上面提到這3位先生為什麽可以做到這樣的事情呢？由於他們不是政府官員，我們不會在歷史課本裏讀到他們的名字以及貢獻，但是今天我們可以品味到文山包種茶，這段歷史卻是不可磨滅的。這3位其實都是當時的茶商，冒著風險，聯絡東西，互通有無，讓各地的消費者可以享受到優質以及創新的產品。或許他們當時出發點是爲了“自利”，但是增進效率以及打開的這個新市場的結果是整個產業鏈都享受到好處。
過去的東方傳統文化總是重文人輕商人，今天我們看到貝佐斯宣佈出資100億美元來對抗有些政治人物仍不承認的全球暖化，郭台銘開始實施0到6歲公司養，我們可以說這些商人因爲不需要面對複雜政治派系利益的角力談判，在某種程度上，按照了自己的想法和信仰，有效率的達成了資源的重新分配。我們掌握的資源以及權力可能沒有他們多，但是大家擁有的時間都是一樣的，或許也可以思考一下我們身邊的工作，是不是可以像吳福源，王水錦，魏靜先生一樣，也有某些機會可以因爲我們的努力以及創意，而變得更好更有效率呢？
再讓我們說囘文山包種茶。經過前人不斷的實驗以及市場的測試，我們知道適合包種做法的茶種有青心烏龍，台茶12，13，14號，發酵好的茶葉，有些做成長索狀，有些會做成半球狀，而長條型的包種茶就是最傳統的文山包種茶。PinCha 特地深入坪林，選了較高海拔的百年茶厰（當然也是5星的，衛生安全最可靠），特製發酵更低，青心烏龍種的的長條狀文山包種茶，希望把這個古典懷舊味再一次呈現給大家。
Wenshan Baozhong is a very classic name expressing the planting area and the production of the tea.
Baozhong tea originated from Fujian, China. One tea merchant there used the tea-making technique similar to Wuyi Rock Tea to create a new flavor of tea, full of flower and seaweed fragrance. To preserve the special fragrance, he used two layers of paper to wrap the tea into a square package and paste upon the tea shop's logo to sell. Baozhong actually means wrapped tea in Chinese, and it is also similarly pronounced to the auspicious meaning of definitely passing the official examination or winning the lottery.
In the 19th century, Taiwan only produced and exported the traditional ball-shape oolong tea. European and North American areas, however, encountered an economic slump in 1873, the Long Depression, thereby leading to the dramatic demand decrease of tea export. Some tea merchants started to transport tea leaves to Fujian, using Baozhong producing technique, which is light fermentation and non-baking skill mainly. Baozhong tea is a wrapped kind of oolong, very close to green tea with the flowers and seaweeds aroma. In 1881, Fuyuan Wu brought tea makers to Taiwan and started to locally produce Baozhong tea to reduce transportation costs and business risk. In 1885, Shuijin Wang and Jing Wei started holding seminars to teach local tea farmers the Baozhong technique, further spreading the growing areas of the tea to Wenshan District, the nowaday Pinglin, Shiding, Xindian, and Shenkeng, etc. Afterward, Baozhong became popular and listed as one of the top-10 famous tea in Taiwan as Wenshan was the primary production area for the tea.
We may not access the 3 tea merchants' stories in the textbooks, but their contribution would not be ignored when we enjoy the Wenshan Baozhong tea today. The merchants took risk trading objects and skills from one places to another, causing consumers could enjoy the benefit of better service and new products. The whole industry chain would also benefit from their creativity. Is it not good examples of "self-interest" and "invisible hand" in economics?
It usually values scholars much more than businessmen in an oriental culture traditionally. We could see the news today that Jeff Bezos committed 10 billion dollars to fight climate change even though some politicians thought the climate change is a hoax. Also, we saw the news that Terry Gou announced his company would pay for employees' children aged 0 to 6. Getting rid of the complicated interest negotiations and bargains of political parties, in some aspects, these businessmen redistribute resources according to their beliefs and faiths. Average Joe may not have the same power and resource to do so, but everyone owns exactly identical hours every day. We might be able to contribute ourselves by creativity and attention, making the world, even slightly, a better and more efficient and friendly place.
Let's talk back to Wenshan Baozhong tea again. After continuous experiments and market tests from generation to generation, we know that several tea varieties would be more suitable to be the raw material producing Baozhong tea, such as Qingxin Oolong, Taiwanese tea No. 12, 13, and 14. Compared to the loose ball shape Baozhong tea, the twist shape ones would be considered to be the classic type of wrapped tea. PinCha visited Pinglin and chose the Baozhong tea produced by a hundred-old tea factory, whose sanitation safety also acquires the 5-star award to present to you. We are sure that you will like it as well!
