Early in August, our store manager visited Cuifeng and Meifeng in Hehuanshan to check on the growth of the autumn tea, and overall, the tea leaves are of mediocre quality. We originally planned to return in a week to source tea, but heavy torrential rains hit Ren’ai Township on August 3rd and 4th, cutting off Provincial Highway 14 and the Lixing Industrial Road. This year, Cuifeng and Meifeng autumn tea will not be a bumper crop.🫤🫤
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The 2022 Cuifeng and Hehuanshan Meifeng autumn tea could be called a “superb year,” with high yields and exceptional quality. Last year, the manager seized the opportunity to stock up on plenty of autumn tea, and customer response was overwhelming—many even said they couldn’t tell it was autumn tea. However, this year’s harvest can only be described as “average,” slightly better than Lishan, scoring around 76 out of 100 for autumn tea standards!
To make matters worse, the torrential rains in Ren’ai Township on August 3rd and 4th severed the two most crucial routes to the Cuifeng and Meifeng tea regions: Provincial Highway 14 and the Lixing Industrial Road. Coupled with the recent rainy weather, many tea gardens had to delay harvesting, causing the tea leaves to become too mature. All the tea we’ve sampled so far is just “ordinary.” Keep in mind that the manager only samples from well-managed tea factories, and if even top-tier factories are like this, you can imagine the overall condition.
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Typhoon Khanun on August 3rd and 4th had a massive impact on the Cuifeng and Meifeng autumn tea. Many tea farmers around Lixing and Cuifeng decided to skip the autumn harvest altogether (due to delayed harvesting leading to poor quality and transportation hassles). All we can say is that tea farming truly depends on the weather—since fate has willed it, there’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to put in our best effort for the winter tea!
