Dear tea lovers, the Cuifeng Spring Tea everyone has been waiting for is finally being harvested! This year’s season started a full two weeks earlier than last year. Some farmers began picking tea as early as April 20, and both yield and quality are looking better than the same period last year. However, heavy rain started pouring on the 22nd, and the forecast says it will rain for a whole week, which means many tea gardens might miss their prime harvest window.
The Cuifeng Spring Tea harvest season affected by heavy rain
From April 7 to 9, the Cuifeng area also experienced heavy rain. Fortunately, it was “beneficial rain“. At that time, the tea plants were in their growth stage, and combined with the lower rainfall in March, this rain had a positive impact on both the quality and yield of the tea. When we checked on the 20th, the yield and quality of the Cuifeng Spring Tea were indeed quite good. However, rain started falling again on April 22, and this wave of heavy rain might negatively impact the tea quality since many tea gardens have already reached their harvest time.
According to the weather forecast, it will keep raining all week, from the night of the 22nd all the way to the 29th. The tea originally scheduled for harvest between the 23rd and 27th will become overmature by the 30th, and subsequent harvest schedules for other tea gardens will also be delayed, further compounding the negative impact of this rain. Several tea farmers started early between the 20th and 22nd, which now looks like a smart move. The tea leaves picked during this window are “ultra-tender harvests“. As long as the leaves undergo proper withering, there’s a strong chance of producing some phenomenal, top-tier batches. Even better, they managed to dodge the rain, leaving more flexibility for their subsequent harvesting schedule.
Sharing some photos of this year’s Cuifeng Spring Tea with everyone, and hoping this rain stops soon. It’s not just Cuifeng; tea gardens in places like Fanzitian, San-ceng-ping, and LongFengXia have also just started harvesting. A whole week of consecutive rain would really spell trouble for the spring tea. The last two photos feature the Cuifeng landmark Fugen cherry blossom, which blooms so gorgeously every spring tea season. Whoever planted it has done a wonderful deed—its presence really elevates the aesthetic of the tea region!
