Perfect Pluck: Mastering Tea Quality

There are many aspects to consider when discerning the quality of your tea, but one that is often overlooked is the picking/plucking standards. These steps can significantly affect the final product, making it crucial for tea enthusiasts to understand them. Knowing the specific picking standard for a tea is essential for evaluating its quality and value.

Masters Teas currently stocks teas from four regions: China, Taiwan, Japan, and India. In this post, we will discuss how picking standards differ in each of these regions.

Chinese & Taiwanese Tea

Picking for Chinese and Taiwanese teas is usually divided into four time frames throughout the year:

Chun Cha 春茶 (Spring Tea): Picked in the Gu Yu solar period (around April 20th).

Xia Cha 夏茶 (Summer Tea): Picked in the Xia Zhi solar period (around June 20th).

Shu Cha 暑茶 (Late Summer/Autumn Tea): Picked in the Li Qiu solar period (around August 7th). While tea can be picked during this season, most farmers in China do not pick during this period and only harvest during the other three.

Dong Pian 冬片 (Winter Tea): Picked in the Shuang Jiang period (around October 24th).

Depending on the farmer's choice and the tea being produced, leaves are either picked by hand or using machines. Hand-picked teas are often of higher quality because more care and attention are given to picking the perfect leaves.

Several different picking standards are followed for Chinese and Taiwanese tea. The most commonly used standards include:

Single Bud: Only the unopened young buds of the plants are harvested, used to create teas like Silver Needle and Golden Bud. These teas are often marketed as premium because the buds have higher levels of theanine, lower levels of caffeine, and lower levels of catechins, which impact the taste and effects of the tea.

1 Bud + 1 Leaf: This standard creates teas similar to bud teas but mixed with young leaves. For example, Masters Teas' Jin Kong Que is picked using this standard, providing a balanced and enjoyable tasting experience.

1 Bud + 2-3 Leaves:This is the most common standard and is considered the gold standard for producing Chinese and Taiwanese teas. Masters Teas' Ancient Tree Green Pu Erh follows this standard, consisting of one bud and 2-3 leaves that are 15-20 cm long.

Souchong (5-8 Leaves): This standard originates from Wuyishan, China, and is traditionally used for Lapsang Souchong. However, using this standard for other teas often results in lower quality.

For popular oolongs like Tie Kuan Yin and Ali Shan Special, no buds are picked. Instead, 2 to 4 young leaves are hand-plucked. Taiwanese oolong can be harvested up to six times a year, with high mountain oolongs harvested three times due to slower growth in cooler weather. Higher quality oolongs are picked by hand to ensure quality, while machine harvesting can cause damage and include too many stems.

Japanese Tea

In Japan, tea is commonly harvested using machines that either ride on or are pulled along the rows of tea plants. These machines pluck the leaves and collect them into large bags for sorting later. However, teas like Gyokuro and the tencha used for matcha are often picked by hand, following the 1 bud + 2 leaves standard.

For more inexpensive teas like bancha, farmers select leaves from lower down on the tea plant along with some stems, using a standard of up to 5-8 lower leaves. This tea is mostly picked during summer or fall harvests, while spring harvests focus on high-quality shincha.

The leaves picked during these hand-picked harvests are referred to as Shin (heart/bud), Ichioma (second leaf), and Nyome (third leaf).

Shincha (新茶: “new tea”): This is the first harvest of the year, seen as the highest quality and often more nutrient-dense due to the plants laying dormant through the winter. Masters Teas' Shincha Sencha and Gyokuro are traditional shincha teas, while Shincha Genmaicha combines shincha sencha with toasted rice.

Ichibancha (一番茶: “first tea”): This entire first harvest season produces leaves that are the highest in nutrients and flavor.

Nibancha (二番茶: “second tea”): The second harvest of the year takes place from June through July, with leaves being the second highest in nutrients and flavor.

Sanbancha (三番茶: “third tea”): This third harvest occurs in August, typically yielding lower quality leaves.

Yonbancha (四番茶: “fourth tea”): The fourth harvest of the year, occurring as late as October. Not every farmer harvests during this time, making it difficult to find tea from this harvest, and the amount is limited.

Indian Tea (Darjeeling, Assam, Nepal, and Sri Lanka)

Tea leaves in India and Nepal are picked four times a year, referred to as flushes:

The First Flush: March - April

The Second Flush: May - June

The Monsoon Flush: July - August

The Autumnal Flush: October - November

The highest quality teas are harvested during the first and second flushes, with other grades picked during the remaining flushes. The most common picking standard is 1 bud + 2 leaves, often followed to produce the highest quality tea. For bud-only teas, only the buds are picked, similar to specific Chinese teas.

Masters Teas offers four different teas from India, all from Darjeeling.Rohini First Flush, and Rohini First Oolong are harvested during the first flush, while the Rohini Gold Wire is harvested during the Autumnal Flush, all following the 1 bud + 2 leaves standard.

While hand-picking is preferred for high-quality teas, mechanized picking is becoming more common. However, machine-harvested tea is usually of lower quality and sold at a lower price. For the best tea, hand-picked options are recommended, as the care and attention in selecting the perfect leaves result in superior quality.

We hope this deep dive into tea picking standards has helped you understand the various factors involved in growing, harvesting, and producing the teas you love. Use this information to ensure you get high-quality teas with each purchase.