Next up is the frontline battleground of Lishan tea—around Fushoushan Farm and the Sinjiayang settlement. Compared to the consistently above-average quality in the back mountain, the growth conditions on the front mountain are a bit polarized, so sourcing this year will take a bit more effort~😅😅
Sinjiayang Settlement: Pretty good, on par with the back mountain. Although some tea gardens didn’t perform well, most are at an above-average level with decent yields. A small harvest took place on October 2nd, and it’s expected to enter full harvest mode in 2 or 3 days. As long as the harvesting conditions hold up, there will be plenty of great teas to choose from in the Sinjiayang settlement.
HuaGung Peak: A tea lover asked about this yesterday, so I’ll answer it here. Most of HuaGung Peak was already harvested in September, with only a small amount left unpicked. We didn’t buy from this area; wholesale prices are above NT$5,000 per 600 g, so there are definitely options with better CP values (value for money).
Fushoushan Farm Area: Yield and quality are polarized. Several tea gardens that historically produced good quality have poor winter tea yields this year, and some even have severe pest and disease issues (Figure 2). Yields here were already sparse to begin with, so this winter tea might just sit this season out.
Typhoon Koinu is approaching, and it started raining in Lishan at 6:00 AM today (October 4th). The forecast says it will rain until the 9th, so a few tea gardens originally scheduled to start harvesting these two days will have to postpone. The tea leaves are still quite tender and can hold out for another two or three days, but I’m just worried that if it rains too long, the leaves will get old.
Having a typhoon during the harvesting season is a real headache. Too much rain will affect the tea-making quality for the days following. If the quality of this batch of Lishan winter tea harvested between October 4th and 10th isn’t up to par, I’ll just have to skip purchasing and set my sights on anything after the 10th~