The DongYanShan tea growing region isn’t the highest in altitude, but overall tea garden management across the various farms is generally quite good. Our shop manager had high hopes for this season’s spring tea, figuring good management might help turn the drought around. Unfortunately, no miracle happened this time—the 2023 DongYanShan spring tea didn’t turn out very well.
The water shortage in this area was much worse than expected, leaving many tea plants withered and yellowed. Yield is only at 60 to 70 percent of previous years, with uneven growth and asymmetric buds (“gongsun ya”) still present. Some tea trees are heavily lignified and haven’t even been harvested yet, so the expected quality won’t be great. A few tea gardens managed decent quality, but the overall standard of the region falls far short of last year’s stellar harvest. This year’s spring tea is roughly a 70-point crop.
There are quite a few factories in the region that the shop manager really admires, as their management practices are thorough and meticulous. But it seems even the strongest logistical management is no match for a severe water crisis. Tea making is 70% up to nature and 30% up to human effort; when facing a drought like this, it’s nobody’s fault. Let’s all keep pushing forward!
Harvesting began in late April and is expected to finish by mid-May, putting us about two weeks behind schedule. Hopefully, we won’t miss the optimal solar terms. We’ll be back to share updates and let you know if we find any standout gems after tasting the samples in a few days!
Aside: We don’t have many nice photos of this year’s DongYanShan spring tea, so instead we’d like to share the Japanese maples beside the tea garden (and another tree we can’t quite identify). They are easily the most dazzling things in DongYanShan this year.
