Buy Green Tea Guide To
Spring Harvested High Grade
It pays to buy green tea in early Spring, but not all early crops are equally good.
The best time to buy green tea is in
spring. The first pick from a tea garden makes the finest green tea. It keeps fresh longer, and it is less likely to be diluted by poorer quality tea picked
later.
In China, early crops command a premium price. This is because higher grade tea is picked earlier and consists of very young buds and leaves.
Unlike the matured leaves we tend to drink daily, these tea buds and yet-to-unfurled leaves are small and pointed, rather than large and rounded.
Nevertheless harvest date is only one of the many factors to consider when deciding which tea is the highest quality.
Early crop per se is not necessarily a sign of quality. Standard practice is to start picking when 5% of the garden is ready. Picking
too early before the tea buds reach a minimum size can hurt its quality.
Why are some teas picked earlier than the others even though they may be of similar age?
The warmer the climate, the earlier the crops.
Roughly speaking, Southern provinces such as Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and
Hainan are ready for picking by early February.
Middle provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hunan follow. They are ready
for picking in mid March.
Northern provinces such as Henan comes last, from mid April onwards.
New species such as Longjing 43 buds approximately 10 days earlier than the
traditional Longjing varieties.
These tea plants are grown in newer villages, so they tend to be lower quality than older tea villages where the best conditions exist and traditional methods are still being followed.
Harvesting dates can be manipulated by farmers. Tea plants shielded from winter chills can bud 10 days earlier.
Plant age plays a part too. Younger
tea plants bud earlier than older tea plants.
First picks from a green tea garden are always the finest from that tea garden. But comparing two different tea gardens can be like comparing apples and orange.
Other factors, such as altitude, whether the tea is handpicked and handcrafted and location are equally important in addition to crop dates.
Xu Zhen Bing (1996). Zhongguo Mingyoucha. Jingdun Chubanshe.
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