Quality first, not quantity: Mr. Chen at his Jia Long farm. Only 80 jins of tea produced per year!
Who cares about real tea?
Each year, as we concerned ourselves about the fact that artisan teas are rapidly disappearing, we are overlooking the fact that tea in America is comprised mostly of commodity teas. Who really cares about real artisan made teas hailing from century old traditions? Who really cares if harvesting the Baochong leaves one by one means that the leaf texture and size and shape will fit a certain…
Who cares about Baochong?
No monkeys at work here
The hills are very, very steep. One with vertigo would not do well in this excursion of ours deep in the mountains of Siping, home of Tieguanyin. The elevation ranges from 800 meters to 1200 meters, some maybe more, and many newly planted hillsides feature clippings from 50 year old bushes from the area. Available wind from all directions, red clay soil full of iron, and severe trims down to…
