Do you know where your tea is right now?
Several spring teas are in the pluckers’ hands as you read this. Others are sitting in withering troughs, or being contorted into their familiar shapes by the hands of master tea makers.
For example, some Long Jing harvests are already under way. Mao feng, bi luo chun, will begin soon, if they haven’t already, along with several Japanese greens. Darjeeling first flush harvest began around the end of February.
Because it’s not just some farmer’s tea. It’s your tea- or at least it’s on its way toward becoming yours. Some tea purveyors bring you into the journey of the leaf. Life in Teacup & Harney have accepted the charge to tell the story of how our teas go from ground to cup. There’s a certain added joy of knowing the people and care that go into each tea we enjoy.
So why not ask your tea vendor about your Spring teas:
- Is most of the crop pre-harvest?
- Is most of the crop harvested or being processed? (Note, a really savvy vendor may even be able to describe some of the significant processing stages the crop is going through)
- Is most of the crop in post-process? (E.g. Packaged and in transport)
- In what ways have weather or other conditions affected this season’s crop?
Enjoy the story in your cup.
Walker Tea Review- a tea blog with tea reviews and tea tastings. Operated by Jason Walker.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That was fascinating. I don’t normally think about that, but I’ve been communicating with the people from Dilmah and Thunderbolt Tea and they have been sending me pictures of what goes on their estates. I have Thunderbolt Tea as one of my facebook friends, and they regularly post what’s going on with their tea. Since I has quite the gardener when I lived in a house, I find the descriptions of the tea’s growth very interesting.
Thanks Margaret, for reminding me of the good work of Benoy and the team at Thunderbolt. They have done an excellent job of sharing news from the front lines:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Darjeeling-India/Thunderbolt-Tea/96212714383?ref=ts