In late April, the store manager wrote an article about the “2022 Qilai Mountain Tea Region Spring Tea,” mentioning back then that the spring tea from the Qilai tea region was “dark, glossy, and gorgeous,” and announced a follow-up trip to the mountains for tea hunting on May 10th.
Previous recap: 2022 Qilai Mountain Tea Region Spring Tea
From May 11 to 15, the store manager was searching for fine teas in Cingjing, Lushan, and Qilai Jingguan. There were surprises and regrets along the way. The joyful surprise was that the Qilai Mountain spring tea grew “even better than expected,” while the regret was the arrival of the plum rain front, which limited the final processing of some tea batches due to rain and prevented them from reaching their full potential.
To give a quick timeline, from May 5 to 10, the weather in the Qilai tea region was fine; May 11 was overcast and rainy; May 12 was sunny; and May 13 to 17 brought torrential rain.
The store manager visited the Qilai tea region on May 11. Having scouted the tea earlier in late April, he went straight to the tea factory to taste the tea harvested on May 9. The results “greatly exceeded expectations.” It was like driving from Kaohsiung to Taipei during Chinese New Year: expecting a 6-hour trip, but arriving in just 4 hours.
The May 9 tea was instantly sweet upon entry. Of course, the sweetness we talk about here isn’t added sugar; it’s the natural “tea sweetness” that tea drinkers instantly recognize. Quality like this is hard to come by—when you taste it, you buy it.
Because the May 9 tea was so exceptional, the manager went back the next day to taste the freshly made May 10 tea. It was equally “sweet with a fantastic aroma.” Good tea waits for no one, so the manager bought that batch too.
May 11 was overcast and rainy, so the tea farmers didn’t harvest. Since the manager had other tea gardens to visit, he asked the tea farmers to mail him samples of the following days’ harvests.
Upon returning home, he received the tea sample harvested on May 12. It felt equally “sweet and smooth,” and after a moment’s thought, he made another purchase. Counting it up, the manager has already secured inventory from three days this year: May 9, 10, and 12.
Naturally, you can never have too much good tea. This year, Qilai Mountain made the manager “feel beyond amazing.” On the 18th, when the weather cleared up, the manager headed back up the mountain, this time targeting high-elevation teas grown above 1,900 meters. Regrettably, after 5 days of heavy rain, some of the tea leaves had already matured too much and opened up—possessing all the potential in the world but unable to fully deliver. It was truly a shame.
Much like Meifeng and Songgang, the manager is still awaiting the finished teas from May 18, 19, and 20. The ultra-high-elevation tea hasn’t grown too old yet; as long as the weather cooperates, there is still a chance to produce absolute masterpieces. Wish the manager good luck!