The quality of this year’s high-mountain spring tea wasn’t quite up to par, so I brought in a smaller batch. Much of our spring tea is already sold out, and with some tea lovers running low on their personal stash, I’ve been getting messages asking when the winter tea will be available. I figured this is a great time to explain the harvest sequence for winter tea.
Because high-altitude areas get cold earlier, the higher the tea garden, the earlier the winter tea is harvested. Generally speaking, the winter tea harvest starts at the peak of HuaGung, Fushoushan Farm, Dayuling, Biluxi, and the edges of Fushoushan Farm, followed by areas around 2,000 meters in elevation like Cuiluan North Line, Cuifeng, Meifeng Songgang, Xinjiyang, and Qilai Mountain, working our way down.
Ten years ago, Dayuling winter tea would always hit the market first. However, Dayuling is no longer the highest tea-growing region. Nowadays, the very first to be harvested are the peak of HuaGung and Fushoushan Farm, usually starting in mid-to-late September. Dayuling, Biluxi, and the edges of Fushoushan Farm follow around late September to early October. These high-altitude regions above 2,000 meters yield the earliest winter tea of the season. After that, winter tea from regions between 1,000 and 2,000 meters is harvested from early to late October.
By the way, spring tea is the exact opposite: the peak of HuaGung, Fushoushan Farm, and even Dayuling aren’t harvested for spring tea until June. I’ve actually seen competitors selling Dayuling spring tea in March—come on, the buds haven’t even sprouted yet!
