高山出好茶？臺灣梨山高山茶崛起的個案研究

Abstract

在「高山出好茶」的概念底下，台灣高山茶自1970年代末期開始興起之後，便出現以海拔論價格的現象，競相追高的結果，使得茶葉生產上限從早期的海拔700公尺攀上2,500公尺的高峰。本研究以全台灣海拔最高的梨山茶區為研究對象，從自然環境、農業技術與消費品味等角度切入，試圖理解「海拔高度」是經由什麼樣的社會過程被建構出來，成為一種可以商品化的茶葉品質標準。 研究發現，在台灣走向工業化與都市化的發展過程中，經濟效益相對低落的農業，隨著交通技術進步而往高山等邊際土地發展。梨山茶的出現，則是茶產業轉型與高山農業轉型交織的結果，內銷茶葉推廣、中橫公路開發與蘋果開放進口等政策，在其中扮演了重要角色。梨山地區低溫、多雨、高濕、短日照的氣候條件，對於培育出品質優良的茶菁有所助益，卻也對茶樹生長造成阻礙或傷害，因而發展出灌溉與防霜等技術以克服環境逆境。然而，這樣的氣候條件，其實並不利於講究發酵工序的烏龍茶製造過程，因而產生了高山茶「綠茶化」的現象。但同時，在茶藝文化、茶葉比賽與商業市場的行動與論述之下，「手工採摘」、「緊結球型」與「高山氣」被建構為高級茶葉的品質標準，進而形成消費市場偏好綠茶化的品味變遷，「高山出好茶」的品質論述就此誕生。

Taiwan high mountain oolong tea has emerging since late 1970s. Based on the concept of “high mountain tea is the best,” the price of tea was more expensive when the altitude of plantation was higher. Thus, the highest tea plantation at Taiwan shifted from 700 to 2,500 meters. In this thesis, I focus on the highest tea plantation area, Lishan. I explain the social construction of “altitude” from three perspectives: natural environment, farming techniques and consumption taste. I find that in the background of industrialization and urbanization, depended on the advancement of transportation system, agricultural production has developed to marginal land such as high mountain area. Lishan oolong tea emerged because of the transformation of tea industry and high mountain agriculture industry. Three policies played an important role in this, including the domestic market of tea industry, the development of Central Cross-Island Highway and the importation of apple industry. The climate of Lishan, cold, rainy, high humidity, misty and weak sunlight, was beneficial to advance the quality of tea leaves, but harmful to the growth of tea. Thus, irrigation, frost protection and other farming techniques were developed to reduce the environmental stresses. The climate was also not beneficial to the fermentation during the manufacturing process of oolong tea, as a result, the high mountain oolong tea was more like green tea. At the same time, “hand picking,” “tight ball shape” and “light taste” were constructed as the standard of quality under the action and discourse of tea art, tea competition and commercial marketing, the consumption taste began to prefer the “greenize” high mountain oolong tea. Finally, the discourse of “high mountain tea is the best” emerged.