Follow The 2021 Spring Harvest
This article will provide updates, photos and announcements of new teas as they become available. Follow along as the first tea buds and leaves of 2021 emerge.
2021 Mingqian Harvest – China
The 2021 Spring harvest truly represents a year of re-growth and emergence for people all over the world. As the first buds and leaves emerge this spring, we embark on the exciting journey of a new tea season. Our first teas this year will be from the Mingqian Season [ 明前茶 ]. These teas are harvested before the Qingming Festival [ 清明节 “Tomb-Sweeping Festival”] on April 4th. These teas are given the “Mingqian” designation which literally means “prior to Qingming.”
Our First 2021 Minqian Teas are Coming Soon!
March 24, 2021
These are some of the gardens that produce our organic Long Jing, Yulu Jade Dew and Single Cultivar Lu Zhen varieties in Jin Long Ping Village, Xuan En, China
Tea Garden
Jin Long Ping Village, Xuan En, China
Jin Long Ping Village, Xuan En, China
Harvesting Mingqian teas
We actually have relationships with these gardens and not just hit and run buyers. We have sourced tea here for many years.
This field is E-Cha 1 Jade Buds Green Tea, a single bud pluck for Lu Zhen Green Needles style processing.
April 7, 2021
First Mingqian Tea has Landed
Wild Silver Needles
April 7, 2021
Taiwan Tea Gardens Update
Iron Goddess Farm in Mingjian Village – Nantou Taiwan.
This cultivars Wu-Yi and Qingxin are two of the oldest and original tea varieties grown in Taiwan for Tieguanyin (Iron Goddess of Mercy). In a week or so, the harvests will begin for our 2021 crop.
April 19, 2021
Taiwan Tea Gardens Harvest
Iron Goddess Farm in Mingjian Village – Nantou Taiwan.
The first spring harvest is underway for Iron Goddess of Mercey and Four Seasons Spring
April 26, 2021
GREEN NEEDLES HAVE ARRIVED
This year we are featuring three different cultivars of Green Needles (Lu Zhen)
Bendizhong, E-Cha #1, Long Jing #43
Green Needles is a traditional way of processing tea that creates a pine needle-shaped green tea from Hubei province fo China. After withering, the tea leaves are fired in a small tumble-roasters, then shaped using special heated table machines that shake the tea leaves back-and-forth repeatedly to coax the leaves into straight needles. The tea leaves are initially dried on hot air-flow tables while stirred and then finally baked to perfection in an oven. Infuse with care not to over-steep in order to savor the rich complexity of this early spring tea.
Green Needles Single Cultivar Long Jing #43
Green Needles Single Cultivar E-Cha #1
Green Needles Single Cultivar Bendizhong
April 27, 2021
Nishi First Flush Sencha
This is the first of the first flush hand picked Nishi Shincha Saemidori for Rishi Tea
These are photos of Nishi-Sans mother, Junko-San and her friends hand picking tea in April 2021.
Nishi-san’s Shincha Single Cultivar Saemidori
April 30, 2021
Additional Mingqian Tea has Landed
Dragon Well Single Cultivar Long Jing #43
Yulu Jade Dew
Fuding Silver Needles Vintage 2021
May 4, 2021
First Flush Darjeeling Tea Now Available
May 10, 2021
Mingqian White Tea
Fuding Town, Fujian Province, China is a heritage white tea origin situated on mist-enshrouded mountainsides that overlook an estuary leading out to the sea.
Fuding Da Hao cultivar which translates as “Big Hair” is a cultivar featured in Fuding Silver Needles Vintage 2018 and 2021 as well as White Peony King.
May 11, 2021
More Nishi Shincha
May 21, 2021
Fresh Green Tea from Shizuoka, Japan
