Customer Question: I heard that Winter Sprout Oolong is not available every year. What is the origin of Winter Sprout Oolong? Why can’t it be mass-produced annually?
The Origin of Winter Sprout Oolong
Liao Chang Xing: Winter Sprout Oolong is a flush of tea that grows between the winter harvest and the spring harvest. Taiwanese tea plants generally grow five times a year, with the last harvest being the winter tea. Typically, after the winter tea is harvested, the tea plants enter a dormancy period, waiting to sprout again in the coming spring. However, due to warming climates, tea plants sometimes mistakenly believe that spring has arrived early and sprout new leaves once again. This is how Winter Sprout Oolong comes to be.
Winter Sprout Oolong is not produced every year. First, temperatures in November and December must be warm enough; second, the tea plants need to be healthy and strong in order to sprout again. If the weather is too cold during this period, the tea plants will not sprout, or even if they do, it will be difficult for them to grow, making it impossible to harvest Winter Sprout Oolong. Therefore, people say that Winter Sprout Oolong is a rare find, and its production is heavily influenced by the weather.
In recent years, due to warmer winter phenomena, the production of Winter Sprout Oolong has increased. Clever Taiwanese tea farmers have adopted certain measures to boost its yield. First, they apply fertilizer after the winter tea harvest to ensure the tea plants have sufficient nutrients. Second, they cultivate tea varieties like Sijichun and JinXuan that sprout more easily in the winter. These technical improvements have led to an upward trend in the production of Winter Sprout Oolong in recent years.
If tea lovers are looking for delicious Winter Sprout Oolong, you can find it in Zhushan Township or Mingjian Township, which are the largest production areas for Winter Sprout Oolong.