This year, many tea buds in Lishan failed to grow properly, and I was really worried Cuifeng would be the same. So, I ran up to check out the Cuifeng tea leaves again today. It was a mix of good and bad news—sure enough, many of the tea plants, just like the ones in Lishan, are short, small, and clearly stunted in their development.
On the bright side, some plantations are growing exceptionally well. Plantations that put real effort into management simply have a higher chance of producing great tea. Take a look at the photos—don’t they look promising? These are the exact plots I’ve been eyeing. I’ve already confirmed the harvest dates, and as soon as the tea is ready, I’ll head straight up to Cuifeng to secure the best batch.
On the other hand, some of the tea is in pretty rough shape. Whether it’s due to incorrect fertilization or insufficient irrigation, all the nutrients went into producing tea flowers instead (Figures 56), leaving the leaves thin and sparse. When it comes to buying tea this year, simply skipping these underdeveloped batches is definitely the right move.
With several typhoons forming near Taiwan these past few days, I’m about ready to pull my hair out. The next 10 days are the peak of the winter tea harvest—not only is our target Cuifeng tea plantation about to start picking, but key plantations in Cuiluan, Maleba, and North Cuiluan, as well as Budongyu in ShanLinXi’s LongFengXia, are also getting underway. I am seriously begging the typhoon gods to leave us alone!
