Tea leaf harvesting is the most crucial step in tea production. The weather, timing, and growth condition of the tea leaves (cha-jing) during harvest play a vital role in tea making. Harvesting determines the quality of the raw leaves, which accounts for over 70% of the final tea quality.
Weather is the first consideration when harvesting tea. If it is rainy or overcast, the harvested leaves will contain too much moisture, preventing the aroma from developing properly and resulting in a bitter and astringent taste. The ideal weather is a continuous streak of clear, sunny days, and the best time to harvest is between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM, when the moisture content in the leaves is lowest and the aroma is at its peak.
Tea Harvesting Methods
Manual Harvesting: The traditional and most common method of tea picking. Harvested by hand, the advantage is that the leaves remain largely intact, allowing pickers to select the right leaves and avoid old or overly tender leaves. The disadvantages are slow harvesting speed and high labor costs.
A tea picker can harvest about 24 kg of raw leaves per day, which yields roughly 3 kg of finished tea. Hand harvesting is typically used for higher-end teas such as High Mountain Oolong, Oriental Beauty, and Pouchong.
Machine Harvesting: Using tea-harvesting machinery. The advantages are fast speed and low cost. The disadvantages are that the leaves tend to be more broken and it is easier to accidentally harvest old leaves and debris along with the good ones.
The volume harvested by machine is about 100 times that of manual harvesting. Because it is fast and yields large quantities, harvesting can be concentrated during sunny weather and around midday. Machine harvesting is commonly used in lower-elevation tea gardens. In high mountain areas, if the weather is poor or the harvest season hits a rainy spell, tea farmers will also use machines to minimize losses.
After harvesting, tea leaves must be collected promptly, kept well-ventilated, and transported to the tea factory for outdoor withering (sun withering).