美人背後的男子-龍耀元專訪● 島農作息 Long Yaoyuan Interview

美人背後的男子-龍耀元專訪

The Man Behind the Beauty – Long Yaoyuan Interview 

採訪/ 李育萱、陳儷云
 

提到新竹在地的茶，不論喝茶與否，大家總能說出東方美人；響亮的名號除了命名典故眾所皆知；茶湯裡的天然蜜香，讓平時不愛茶的人也能卸下心防。這次透過農友的介紹，Arttime採訪團隊首次驅車前往新竹峨嵋，拜訪東方美人的製茶師傅龍耀元。

那天下午，正值桶柑採收的季節，沿路上只見果樹結石纍纍，卻不見茶園。好奇的我們劈頭就問：「你們的茶園究竟在哪兒?」

「我們的茶園都在躲貓貓。」龍耀元黝黑的臉龐上浮出靦腆的笑容。

When it comes to tea from Hsinchu, whether one drinks it or not, people refer to it as the Oriental Beauty. Besides its allusive name, many know that the fresh honey in the tea allows people who normally do not love tea to dismantle their defenses. 

For this time´s farmer introduction, the Arttime team drove to Hsinchu City´s Emei for the first time in order to meet the master of making Oriental Beauty tea, Long Yaoyuan.

Walking along the road that afternoon, in the time of citrus harvesting, the tea plantation was nowhere to be seen, as one could only see the fruit trees and stones. Being curious, we asked: "where exactly is your tea plantation?"  

- "Our tea plantation is playing hide-and-seek". 

Long Yaoyuan´s tanned face expressed a shy smile.

被樹林圍繞與世隔絕的茶園

龍耀元是製茶的第三代，早在民國65年家中祖父便開始學習製茶，設立製茶所。40年的歲月裡，龍家從茶園管理、茶菁摘採、茶葉製成、末端銷售都是家人一起協力完成。「目前幫我們摘採的工人，都是爸爸那一代就開始合作了。年紀大都60、70歲，產季一到大家上工，剛好也可以聯絡感情。」話鋒一轉，龍耀元卻也提到了美人正逐漸凋零現況。「某種程度來說，這是茶產業裡的夕陽；我們不像大型產區，一年四季都提供穩定的工作機會。配合的工人也都上了年紀，未來是不是還能繼續下去，真的很難說。」

Yaoyuan is a third generation tea-maker. His grandfather started studying tea-making, and set up a factory in his home as early as 1976. For the past 40 years, the Long family has managed their tea plantation together as a joint effort; everything from cultivation and harvesting to consumer sales. 

"The pickers who currently help us, started back in the times of my father´s generation. Most of them are in their sixties or seventies and work through the season as one affectionate family."

The topic changed as Yaoyuan mentioned that the Beauty is gradually withering. 

"To some degree, this is a sunset to the tea estate, as we are not a large-scale plantation which can provide stable working opportunities for all four seasons. The workers are also old, and it is difficult to say if we can go on like this in the future."

78年次的龍耀元，是家中第三代的製茶師

入行5年的龍耀元當初返鄉，主要也是因為爸爸年事已高，加上製茶的工作繁重，所以決定回家幫忙。起初，龍爸爸並沒有非常支持他的決定；跟在爸爸身邊學茶的龍耀元，也常常一知半解。他索性就報名了行政院農委會茶業改良場的課程，透過系統性的學習，最為理解爸爸身教上的輔助。

Yaoyuan, who has now been in business for 5 years, originally returned home to help his aging father with the hard work. At first, his father did not endorse Yaoyuan´s decision: whilst taught by his father, Yaoyuan would often have trouble learning.  He signed up to a tea industry reform course organized by the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, which helped him to better comprehend his father´s teachings.

如何形容茶的色香味呢? 龍家兄弟自行設計了一張簡易的表單方便註記

「學茶過程裡，印象最深刻的應該是有一次我把質量好的茶菁搞砸了，爸爸直接收一收往茶廠外一倒，當田裡的肥料。你知道那『肥料』本來可以值多少錢嗎?」經過反覆試驗、不斷摸索和交流討論，龍耀元慢慢地找到了自己的手感，並透過參與新竹縣東方美人茶優良茶評鑑比賽及全國東方美人茶比賽等來激勵自己持續前進。

"In the process of learning, the most profound impression was when I messed up with high quality tea leaves, and father headed straight out to fertilize the field. You know how much the fertilizer had cost?"

After repetitive attempts and non-stop exploration and talks, Yaoyuan slowly got the hang of it, which, together with attending the Hsinchu County´s Oriental Beauty tea competition and the national level competition, drove him continuously forward. 

牆上是經驗累積的證明

「我沒有說一定要做第一名的茶，就是單純在有限的時間內把茶做好。我就擅長做茶，沒想過作自己的品牌，行銷的事還是留給專業的人做。」78年次的龍耀元，是採訪團隊裡遇過的年輕製茶師，說起話來不疾不徐，不溫不火，想必這5年來茶也磨練了他很多。至於為何開頭說到他的茶園在躲貓貓呢? 其實是因為要躲果園裡噴灑而飄散的農藥啦!

"I´m not saying that I want to make the best tea. Given the limited time, I simply want to make the tea well. I´m good at making tea, but I haven´t thought about creating my own brand, and I leave marketing to the professionals".  

When the Arttime team met with Long Yaoyuan, the young tea master born in 1989, he spoke not fast nor slow, not mild nor fiery. Presumably, the past five years with tea has honed him greatly.   

As to why the interview started off by him telling about the tea plantation "playing hide-and-seek", the thing is that the plantation is actually in hiding from the lingering pesticides coming from the fruit plantations. 

---

延伸閱讀
為茶，半路出家-林耀精一家專訪 ● 島農作息

從城裡被撿回來的製茶師-鍾明志 ● 島農作息