In March, Wuyi Mountain is full of spring flowers, and the air is filled with the breath of spring. My family’s annual spring tea production is about to begin.Every year after Jingzhe "惊蛰"which is the 3rd of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendar, the temperature will warm up, the rain will increase, the plants will start to sprout, and nature will have new vitality. As the temperature rises day by day, the tea leaves will start to sprout soon. Every year around March 15th, we will go to Zhenghe to process white tea (such as Baihao Yinzhen, Baimudan, Shoumei), and Cloud-mist green tea (the only green tea we process by ourselves), most of these raw materials come from Jinping Village, Lingyao Township, Zhenghe County, Fujian Province, (the fresh leaves are purchased from my classmate Li Miaomei and her relatives, and then we rent their factory for processing, the processing time is about 10 days
(2015 Spring in Zheng he processin white )
By the end of March, we began to process Wuyishan black tea, from Jinjunmei to Lapsang Souchong, and then to Tongmu guan old bush Lapsang Souchong . Because of the different maturity time of each variety and the altitude of tea garden, the picking time will be different, but most of my black tea will be processed around April 15th, except for Tongmu guan old bush Lapsang Souchong, which is located at an altitude of more than 1000 meters, so it will not be picked and produced until early May. For black tea and white tea, we pick the most tender single bud or two leaves and one bud for processing, so most of them can be sold directly after processing, and the steps are simpler than oolong tea.
(my husband Zhou shiwu with my father in law in the tea garden)
Then on April 20th (around Grain Rain), we began to process Wuyi Rock Tea, which is commonly known as Wuyi Oolong Tea, starting with early-growing varieties (such as Huang Guanyin and Yellow Rose), and then ending with late-growing varieties (such as Baijiguan and Queshe) on May 6th (around long summer). The production time of Fenghuang dancong tea in my husband's hometown in Chaozhou is about early April from early-growing varieties (such as Milanxiang) and then to Picking of late-growing varieties (such as Baxian) ends at the end of April. Compared with black tea and white tea, the processing of oolong tea will be a little more complicated. We need to do the sorting of Maocha and roast it several times. Therefore, the time for oolong tea to go on sale is about August.
(my husband with my father in law in chaozhou factory )
The above is the approximate timeline of our family's annual spring tea production. By knowing the production time of each of our tea categories, you will probably know when our new tea will be on sale.
