Our Processing Timeline

     It's the spring tea season again. While taking advantage of the free time, let me tell you the approximate timetable of our family's spring tea:

    The time period from the end of the Chinese New Year to the beginning of March every year is the most leisure time for our family, because there is no tea business, and then the tea business has entered a small off-season, so we can really spend it in February. “Do whatever you want in life.”

   Then from the beginning of March we will slowly enter the working state: such as cleaning the factory building, repairing the machines, implementing the workers, etc. Then around March 15th, normally,my husband is in Zhenghe County (Zhenghe County is 110 kilometers from Wuyi Mountain )processing white tea and my cloud-mist green tea.And then it will end around March 25th and return to Wuyi Mountain. 

We then start processing our black tea around Qingming Festival. Except Tongmu Lao Cong black tea,  most of our Lapsang Souchong and Jin Junmei will be processed before April 15^th.  

     Since white tea, green tea, and black tea are all picked from relatively tender tea buds for processing, most of them can be directly sold after processing, except for a small part of black tea. For example, wild black tea and Laocong black tea need further refinement: such as picking tea stems.

      The Wuyi rock tea in our family is usually picked before and after the Grain Rain, and then ends around the beginning of summer (this process is just to pick the fresh leaves from the tea tree and then process it into Mao cha, this process is just the primary production stage we call), and then from  the middle of May, we entered the refining stage of Wuyi rock tea:First, the Mao cha sorting, and then the start of charcoal roasting. Our charcoal roasting workshop usually starts around June 5th, The charcoal of a baking pit can normally last for 16 days . Then, after a round of fire, we will relax for a few days, and continue to start the fire. This cycle of work continued until a month before the Chinese New Year, than we stop roasting work .

   Generally, the new teas of Wuyi Rock Tea will be put on the market in July. Most of the teas sold at this time are relatively light-roasted teas, and most of the medium-roasted and heavy-roasted teas will be available for sale in September.

 My husband's Guangdong Chaozhou Phoenix Dancong, the in-laws, will start picking Milanxiang dancong around the Qing Ming Festival and end by picking Ba xian at the end of April (Milanxiang is the earliest variety, and Baxian is the late variety) In all it takes about a month to complete the production of the variety (this month is also the same as the rock tea in Wuyi Mountain   completed the initial production stage). Then followed by sorting, the refining process of charcoal roasting occurs. The quantity of Dancong tea of my husband’s family is relatively small, and it is only about 300 kilograms of refined tea processed in a month, so they will be refined faster. Generally, we will have   new  dancong is on sale around the mid of May.

  This is the harvest schedule of our family's one-year spring tea, and the time when the new tea will be launched. 

about zhenghe county（政和县）

in Chinese history, is there a county whose name is derived from tea? The answer is Zhenghe County, as an important main producing area of ​​white tea in China, the origin of white tea in Zhenghe County is very deep, which can be traced back to the end of the Tang Dynasty and the beginning of the Song Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty, Zhenghe had become an important Beiyuan tribute tea producing area, and the silver needle tea produced was highly regarded. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty (1115), Guandi County at that time gave tribute to silver needle tea, which the emperor liked, Given the reign, the county's name was changed to Guandi for  Zhenghe County .

 Zhenghe County is located in the northern part of Fujian Province, adjacent to the southern part of Zhejiang Province, and is mainly hilly landforms. The average altitude is about 800 meters, and the highest peak in the territory reaches 1597 meters. The average temperature is around 16 degrees, and the average annual sunshine is 1907 hours. Most of Zhenghe's territory is mountainous and hilly areas, with an elevation of 400 to 1,000 meters, and the highest peak is more than 1,300 meters. The tea produced has unique high mountain characteristics, and the white tea produced is of high quality. Zhenghe’s distinctive local buildings are slab houses and covered bridges. In the past, the withering of white tea was done in these well-ventilated slab houses and covered bridges, which created certain unique advantages for the tea industry. Since 2013, as the popularity of white tea in China has continued to rise, Zhenghe has become another popular producing area after Fuding, and the price of fresh leaves has also increased year by year.

                                   

relaxing time

The period from February 15th to March 10th is relatively leisurely for most tea farmers.Everyone is waiting to make spring tea. Most of the things that everyone can communicate with each other are about new production techniques. New machinery and equipment, good raw materials, and the price of fresh tea leaves, etc. We will do some refurbishment of machinery and equipment, as well as the allocation of personnel when making spring tea. When the weather is fine, I will go hiking with my relatives and friends to feel the beauty of nature.

2021 Febuary in chaozhou

We spent the whole month in Chaozhou in February 2021. We will be in Chaozhou every January of the lunar calendar since we got married in 2013. My husband Zhou Shiwu is from Chaozhou, Guangdong Province. He lives and works in Wuyishan with my family all year round. But no matter how busy we are, we must go back to his hometown to celebrate with his family during the Chinese New Year. This is a tradition in the bones of Chaozhou people. I respect it very much. When I have my own child, I I also support this behavior of my husband even more.

(my sister in-law with her unty )

 Chaozhou is a very interesting place, where there are very delicious food, traditional customs, strong clan spirit, and of course Kung Fu tea available in every household. It is a place that makes me feel a strong human touch. I am very fortunate and grateful that I have a relationship with this city.

(my husband'shometwon in chaozhou )

Every first month of the year, we will take turns eating at the family's relatives' house in chaozhou. On the 3rd day of the first month of every year,they all ate at my husband’s house. There are no big meals. The meals are ordinary home-cooked dishes. The relatives who are more able to cook are responsible for the cook, and we are responsible for washing the dishes and washing the dishes.

             (The third day of the first month ,relatives have dinner at my husband's house)

After the meal, the entire clan gathers in the Zhou clan's ancestral hall. The more prestigious members of the clan will speak and make a statement about the good or bad things that happened in the clan in the past year. Then the older generation will spontaneously sing Chaozhou opera.        

  

We are very busy in February 2021. Since April 2019, my father-in-law has signed a lease contract with the government. We have a 50-year use right for a tea mountain. Then, starting in 2019, he will start to open the mountain and build roads. Finally, in 2020, at the end of the year, we planted the first batch of saplings brought over from Wuyi Mountain, as well as some more popular varieties in Chaozhou. This will be our organic tea base. We don’t know what will happen in the future, but I told you My husband is very happy, just to give this beautiful world a little bit more green.

(zhou shi wu with my father in-law )

                              (my new garden with wuyi cutlviar in chaozhou )

Wuyi oolong processing

1:Tea leaves picking(采青Caiqing）
 
 Wuyi rock tea is usually picked in the middle of April. Wuyi rock tea is picked according to the standard of three leaves. Pick up the tea plants as soon as possible after picking, to prevent the tea leaves from excessive extrusion and burning.
                                     

                                

2:

Out-door withering :

             in wuyi we call this step as 倒青（dao qing ）or 晒青（Shai qing）


Wuyi rock tea Withering  is a metaphor for the green leaves are suntanned after the tea part of the top lying down or soft. Before withering  is to spread the fresh leaves on the bamboo basket .In order to better disperse the tea, it is now replaced by big cloth or net . Whether it is appropriate to wither has a lot to do with the follow-up processing . The technology of withering  is the basis of forming wuyiyan tea's fragrance and taste. Withering can rapidly increase leaf temperature, evaporate water, enhance enzyme activity, promote decomposition and transformation of macromolecule compounds and destroy chlorophyll, which has a good effect on aroma formation.

 withering always  happen before 11 a.m. and after 2 p.m. and the whole process of withering needs to be turned 2-3 times. The time of withering  depends on the condition of tea and the intensity of light (generally about several minutes). When the temperature is too high, we should pay special attention to the change of green leaves , in case the temperature is too high to burn the leaves.)

When to stop the withering , it usually depends on whether the top leaves and sharp buds are drooping and most of the leaves are tarnished. It can also be judged by the feeling of grasping the leaves  by hands   and whether the withering meets the requirements. The leaves are soft, the green air is decreased, the green fragrance is exposed, the weight loss rate is 10% - 15%, and the water content of the leaves suitable for the sun is about 70%. 
       

3：Oxidation :  we call this as Zuo qing(做青）

 Zuo qing is carried out alternately by shaking and standing fermentation. Zuo qing indoor temperature control in 24-30 degrees, humidity control in 80% - 85%. The Zuo qing  stage is the key link for Wuyi rock tea to express its excellent endoplasm, form good color, fragrance, taste and "green leaves and red edge".
                   
                                                       

               

About Jin junmei processing

Jin junmei and lapsang souchong from Tong muguan (Village), Wuyishan National Nature Reserve, and belong to the category of   black tea. Anyone who knows something about tea knows tongmuguan, the birthplace of the world's black tea.


 Jinjunmei is not a traditional black tea. It was only created in 2005. It is made of pure bud head. Only 60000 to 80000 bud tips can be made into jinjinjunmei. At present, there are few Jin junmei in Tongmuguan, and the price is very high.


 In terms of harvesting time, due to the high altitude (over 1000m) and low temperature of tongmuguan, the first wave of harvesting time of Jinjunmei every year is basically after Qingming Festival, probably after the middle of April, so Jinjunmei has no so-called "tea before the Ming Dynasty".


How is Jin Junmei refined?

Step 1: picking. The picking standard of Jinjunmei tea is that the leaf tip is more mature than red and green tea. Jin Junmei requires to take fresh tea buds and pick the most tender part of the bud head, which requires very high picking skills. Because of the high altitude of tongmuguan, the slow growth of tea trees, and no chemical fertilizer and pesticide, the black tea here is only picked one season a year, and the yield of golden eyebrow made from pure bud tip is less.

                                                 

 

Step 2: pick and choose. Many people think that the fresh leaves picked can be dried and withered. In fact, there is a process of sorting.  When we pick the new tea buds ,there will be some old leaves outside .So the tea was picked and arrived home .We have a sorting step .We call this as “peel the buds  ” .  Its purpose is to guarantee that the raw materials of Junmei are all bud tips.

                                                              the leaves from garden :
                                                                   

           

                doing the sorting  

  

        

          

                                                       After sorting :

   

Step 3:  Withering . Spread the tea evenly in the basket  .The withering of Golden eyebrows can be divided into indoor withering and sunlight withering. Now, due to the weather, it is often impossible to do the sun withering. Most of the golden eyebrows made in one day are withered in the indoor withering machine. This process takes about 3 to 4 hours, and the amount of water lost in this process is about 70%.

                                   

Step 4: Rolling .  using the hands to do the rolling step  ,to set the  shape and roll the  leaves into strips. (now more machine rolling instead of hands working )
                                                   

 Step 5: fermentation. The purpose of stacking the rolled  tea leaves together and covering them with wet cloth is to destroy the cells on the leaf margin, thus promoting the enzymatic oxidation and making a series of biochemical changes in the fresh leaves. The process takes about 7 to 8 hours, and the fermented tea turns red.



 Step 6: dry. Put the fermented tea into the baking machine, bake slowly with a gentle fire of about 90 ℃, and dry all the tea in about 3 hours, and the authentic Jin Junmei will be refined!


                               

Lapsang souchong processing

Lapsang souchong  is the originator of black tea in the world. Produced in
Tong muguan Village, Wuyi Mountain, Fujian. Tongmuguan is located in the northern section of the Wuyi Mountains, with a high altitude, 1000-1500 meters above sea level, warm in winter and cool in summer, with an average annual temperature of 18 ℃ and annual rainfall of about 2,000 mm. Between spring and summer, the clouds are foggy all day and the sunshine is shorter. The frost period is longer, the soil moisture is sufficient, fertile and loose, and the content of organic matter is high. , Deepen the soil layer, so the tea is lush, the leaves are thick and soft.

At present, my family's Lapsang souchong  is divided into smoked ones and unsmoked ones:
Smoked style and unsmoked style  are distinguished based on whether they are smoked with pine needles or pine wood in the production process: those smoked with pine needles or pine wood are called "Smoked Lapsang souchong"; no pine needles or pine wood are used Smoked, it is called "Unsmoked Lapsang souchong ". The tea produced by these two different production processes of Lapsang souchong has obvious differences. Everyone also habitually calls smoked style as traditional craft , and unsmoked new craft .

The production process of unsmoked Lapsangsouchong   :
                             
 1:fresh leaves Picking:

                           the picking standard of the Lapsang souchong ,2leaves with one buds ,all the leaves are quite tender and fresh at the beginning of April .


2:Withering :    
                                               Fresh leaves just picked

                                               
                                               Withered leaves  (after 8hours )

3: Rolling :   
                                             

                           

4: Fermentation:  (in this step is about 5-7 hours depending on which cultivars and
                            the temperature)

 4:Drying:
                     After fermentation ,the tea leaves is quite wet ,so we use this machine to  dry the tea .For the lapsang souchong noramlly it is 85-95degree and around 3-4hours  .In fact this step  is just for  basically drying , after this step , we call this tea as Lapsang souchong Maocha .
                                       

This is the electric roasting machine (before drying )

put the fermentated  tea on this  bamboo sieve  

5:Mao Cha sorting :  pick out the tea stems and Huang pian (old and big leaves )


6:Roasting :
                          Most of local tea growers still use the electrical machine to roast ,

                          but also some tea growers  use the charcoal fire to do the roasting .

                          in this step  normally it is about 4-6 hours and with the temperature                                                                    90-105C
       

7:Package into box:
                                  package the tea into boxes
                                   

   

8:selling  to the clients :