In late April, the store manager visited the Ruan’an tea growing region in Zhushan Township to check on the tea. Many of the tea gardens along County Road 49 at altitudes between 800 and 1,000 meters had already finished harvesting. The Ruan’an region at the highest end is now in the midst of its peak harvest, which should wrap up by early May.
For the spring tea from the Da’an and Ruan’an regions, growth is uneven once again with plenty of mother-and-child buds, resulting in about 70% of usual yields. While the situation isn’t as disastrous as in the Alishan tea region, compared to typical years it’s “below average” (though some tea gardens are performing very well). The Fanzitian tea region we looked at a couple of days ago fared a bit better. Overall quality is around 60 points.
Harvesting has just begun around the Bagua Tea Plantation, the highest point in this area, and is expected to wrap up by early May. I remember everything was pretty much harvested by mid-April last year, making this year nearly three weeks later. I’m not sure if that will impact quality.
The biggest issue remains the mother-and-child buds. Having a mix of mature and tender tea leaves makes post-processing quite troublesome, so the spring tea from this area really tests the tea master’s patience. Additionally, the tea factory’s strict requirements for leaf harvesting quality are crucial. The manager has only tasted two batches so far and feels there is still room for improvement in quality. We’ll wait for a few more tea samples in the next couple of days before deciding whether to purchase.
Aside: The Bagua Tea Plantation in the Ruan’an tea region is a popular tourist spot, and the surrounding tea mountain offers some of the best tea country scenery in Taiwan. However, visiting Ruan’an this time, I noticed a bald patch on the mountaintop. Upon asking the tea farmers, I learned the old tea trees were cut down and replanted with JinXuan. Sitting at around 1,200 meters of elevation, growing JinXuan at this height is quite rare. The manager is quite looking forward to seeing what kind of quality this batch of tea can achieve.
