The tea harvesting year is, like that for all agriculture, comprised of various seasons. Just as we anticipate the arrival of seasonal fruits and vegetables throughout the year, seasonality determines when a certain tea will be made and the subsequent flavor, aroma and appearance it will have.

While most teas are made in more than one season, climate and weather have a direct influence on how rapidly or slowly a tea plant grows and puts forth new leaf. The time of year that leaf is plucked affects the sweetness or astingency of a tea, so we believe it is important to understand how seasonality affects the delicacy, assertiveness and fragrance of a tea. Some teas are only made once a year for a short few weeks, so it is best to know which teas these are.

Each tea-producing country generally has one or two seasons during which its best teas are produced. In each country, certain seasons are associated with the tastiest, premium quality tea, while other seasons produce common, every-day drinking teas. Some tea bushes hibernate during winter months while other plants must be given a heavy pruning to force a resting period.

With all teas, there is a season in which each tea is made and a time when it is best to drink it. Some teas are best aged, or rested, and others not. We believe that all tea has a ‘sweet spot’ when the flavor is the most satisfying. Sometimes this is right after manufacture and sometimes it is after a bit of resting or aging. Understanding when a tea is best to drink can make all the difference in the enjoyment of a tea.

China Spring Green Tea

Aaaahhhh……. the loveliness of spring-plucked green tea. Vibrant in color and fresh in flavor, these first –of- the- season-teas mark the arrival of a new tea year.In China spring teas are made from the emerging tea buds and leaves of tea bushes awakening from winter dormancy. The time for plucking small, tender leaves is fleeting and the opportunity for manufacturing spring teas ends almost as quickly as it began. Anticipation for the arrival of new teas in the local markets is high. As the spring season gets underway in different regions of the major tea producing countries, new types of green tea come to market as soon as their time of the season arrives.

In a sense, these early spring teas are made from baby tea leaves that are delicious, ‘just born’ expressions of the flavor of the tea. As such, these teas are vigorous and bursting with flavor and contain a large amount of beneficial plant nutrient. In just a few weeks time, the leaves on the tea bushes will grow too large to be baby tea leaves any longer this year. The leaves will grow and produce mid-spring teas ( teenagers ! ) and by summer the full-sized leaves will produce milder green teas( adults ).

Early spring green teas are prized by many tea enthusiasts who seek the opportunity to savor the fresh sweetness, or bold astringency that early plucked green teas offer. During the course of the year these spring teas will mellow a bit and deliver richer and smoother taste characteristic. New harvest green teas that have rested for a few months can appeal to some enthusiasts more than when they were first brought to market.

1. Early spring plucked teas

Pre-Qing Ming teas: these teas are plucked before April 5th

Before the Rain ( Yu Qian ) teas: these teas are plucked from April 5th to April 20th

2. Late spring plucked teas:

Gu Yu teasL these teas are plucked from April 21st to May 6th

Li Xia teas: these teas are plucked from May 7th until May 21st

China White Tea

In eastern China's Fujian Province, production of bud-plucked Yin Zhen white tea is from approximately mid-March to the end of March. Plucking for the highest grades of Bai Mudan begins after plucking for Yin Zhen is finished and usually ends about April 10th.

China Yellow Tea

In yellow tea processing, early spring buds or a mao feng pluck ( a bud and two-leaves ) are removed from the heat after the initial firing and covered with a cloth ( ‘smothered’ ) to allow the warm leaf to re-absorb some of the aromatics. This unique process is known as ‘men huan’ and gives yellow tea a delightfully smooth, rich, buttery mouth-feel. Today, because of the complexity of yellow tea manufacture, fewer than six yellow teas are still being made. The plucking season is in the early spring, when the leaves are new and tender.

China Oolong Tea

Fujian and Guangdong Provinces produce a treasure-chest full of delicious yan cha ( dark strip-style ) and semiball-rolled style oolongs. These intensely aromatic and flavorful teas are bursting with juicy flavor, and are plucked in the spring and again in the fall. In Fujian Province, Tieguanyin and other similar, regional oolongs are named for their specific tea bush variety. In Guangdong Province, the old tea trees ( named as individual fragrances ) yield the remarkable and unduplicatable Fenghuang dan cong oolongs ( another dark, strip-style oolong). Such a wealth of tea can keep tea enthusiast happily exploring these two diverse style and seasonal variations for a lifetime.