Have you ever wondered what time of year your favorite teas are harvested?
Since tea bushes aren’t grown in greenhouses but are naturally grown in tea farms outside or sometimes even wildly, timing the harvest is of utter importance. With certain teas a crop can only be limited to a few days out of the whole year — if missed, the farmers would have to wait for the next season to produce this type of tea.
The harvest time will always depend on the climate of the region and the weather condition of the year. Each year may vary somewhat, by being a week or two early or late. Below we have listed the general harvest times for teas grown in China, Taiwan, and Japan.
Chinese Teas:
China’s Spring Season is divided into 4 parts:
Early Spring Tea:
- Pre-Qing Ming or Ming Qian tea (leaf plucked before Qing Ming Festival that happens around April 5th)
- Before the Rains or Yu Qian tea (leaf plucked before April 20th)
Late Spring Tea:
- Spring tea or Gu Yu tea (leaf pucked before May 6th)
- Late spring or Li Xia (leaf plucked before May 21st)
Not accounting for Winter teas, February is the earliest month you can see tea production begin. In China’s southern region, Yunnan, the harvest of Dian Hong can start as early as February.
March is a special month. It is the harvest month of premium early-spring teas.
Some of our favorite teas from the March harvest include:
April is one of the most productive times for most tea farms across China. Some of the most premium green teas are harvested in early April.
Some of our favorite April harvests include:
- Lapsang Souchong
- Keemun Imperial Black Tea
- The harvesting of maocha used to produce pu-erh starts in April and can last until July.
After most of the first-pluck and new bud teas have been harvested, certain teas that require larger leaves for production are harvested in May.
Some of our favorites include:
- Lu An Gua Pian Green Tea
- Dian Hong
- Bai Mu Dan
- Shou Mei White Tea
- Tie Guan Yin
- Wuyi Mountain Teas (although this tea usually doesn’t appear on the market until June due to the complex processing methods which create the flavor profiles we all love)
The green tea product for Jasmine Green Tea is also harvested in May, then stored while it patiently waits for summer months for the first Jasmine blossoms to appear.
Taiwanese Teas:
In general Taiwan's tea farms yield about 4 harvests per year, while the higher elevation farms yield 2 harvests. Each season is prized for its own qualities. While Spring-harvest oolongs are prized for their flavor, the Winter harvest is prized for its unique aroma.
The Taiwanese oolongs we carry at "Path Of Cha" are of the fall harvest, which is known to yield a nice balance between aroma and taste, sweetness and bitterness.
Some of the best examples include:
Japanese Teas:
Late April / May are the harvest months for some of Japan’s most anticipated tea — Shincha.
Ichibancha (first-pluck Sencha) may also be harvested around this time depending on the year’s weather.
In Japan, May is the harvest month for most Sencha and Gyokuro, while some tea gardens in cooler areas begin harvest in June.
To find out more about Japan's tea seasons check out our articles Simplicity and Seasonality in Japanese Tea and The Different Types of Japanese Tea Ceremony.
*With so many tea varieties in existence, this list is by no means complete and showcases only some of the most well-known and popular teas.
How long does it take from the time of first harvest for the tea to reach the market?
This all depends on the type of tea and the processing methods. For example, teas that undergo roasting or baking can take a month minimum to reach the market. While teas with more simple processing methods can be seen on the market within a few days past initial harvest. We won’t even start mentioning pu-erh here, which can take decades!
Teas harvested in early Spring are some of the most prized in the world. These teas are usually made from the very first buds and hold all the sweetness and flavor that the tea plant has been harvesting throughout the winter. Unlike later teas, the early Spring teas can usually only be harvested during a few-day period, and it is the only harvest of the year that people will get to experience. Consequently, these teas are almost always sold at higher prices.
Is there a tea harvest you look forward to every year? Share in the comments below!