Apologies to everyone, but due to quality considerations, we won’t be purchasing many of our winter tea items. Cingjing Meifeng, Cingjing Songgang, Qilai Mountain, Tunyuan, and DongYanShan are “definitely sitting this one out”—tea lovers don’t need to wait for them.
The winter tea from these regions can only be described as a “disaster.” Not only is the yield low, but there’s also a bunch of subpar leaves. The flavor is either as weak as water or carries an autumn tea taste. There are also a few tea gardens that were originally scheduled for a mid-October harvest, but because the tea plants weren’t growing, it was delayed to November. As a result, the leaves aged before they could even grow properly. These teas had it the worst, even developing a Winter Sprout Oolong flavor profile.
That doesn’t mean there were no good teas at all. Our store manager tried over thirty batches and found four that met our quality standards, but when good tea is scarce, the price goes up. After much consideration, we decided not to buy them. Even so, there are no regrets, because those four batches weren’t “must-haves that you’d kick yourself for missing,” and the Cuifeng and Cuiluan teas we sourced are actually superior.
If you’re still looking to buy from these tea regions, remember to prioritize teas harvested between October 10th and 15th—those days provided this year’s optimal harvest. Second best would be the 19th to 21st. Teas harvested at the end of the month or early November are not recommended. Also, make sure to choose teas made from tenderly plucked leaves; this year, the difference between tenderly picked and standard winter tea is huge.
Note: Heavy rain from typhoons on October 16th, heavy rain across Taiwan on the 22nd and 23rd, heavy rain across Taiwan on the 31st, rain on November 1st, light rain on the 3rd, and light rain on the 5th. Tea harvested within two days after heavy rain won’t be good, and light rain is a case-by-case situation. We still recommend teas from October 10th to 15th, and October 19th to 21st.
These tea regions are traditional heavy hitters, and many tea lovers have been waiting for them. Our store manager could easily have brought in some just to sell, but to maintain our reputation, we had to pass. That said, these probably won’t be the only items we pass on—this year’s winter tea season is truly a rare disappointment…
