I visited the Cuifeng tea region over the past couple of days to check on the winter tea. The sections sitting between 1,900 and 2,100 meters will be ready for harvest in another week. What’s quite surprising is that many tea plantations below 1,900 meters are only just sprouting. I’m not sure if it’s because the autumn harvest ran late or due to the weather, but Cuifeng winter tea might end up being harvested well into November this year.
We had a cool spell back in September which caused high mountain tea to grow a bit slower. Lishan harvest is running about 5 to 7 days behind. Cuifeng feels even slower. These newly sprouted leaves will need about another 3 weeks to reach the ideal harvest time, which puts us right in November. In past years, the Cuifeng winter tea harvest usually wrapped up by late October, but this year it’s going to be delayed by over 10 days.
As I’ve mentioned before, lower temperatures and slower growth aren’t a bad thing at all. Having a few extra days to grow allows the leaves to accumulate more compounds, resulting in a richer, fuller flavor. I’m actually quite looking forward to seeing how these Cuifeng winter teas, harvested all the way in November, will taste. Take a look at the photos—figures 2, 3, and 4 show the newly sprouted tea leaves.
Bottom line, my trip to Cuifeng was a bit premature today. Everything below 1,900 meters is still just tiny, tender leaves, making it impossible to tell how the quality will turn out yet. I’ll just have to head back in a few days. Haha (speechless)~
