First Flush...Already?

[beachape]

Never bought from teaspring, but I was looking at their site to find that they are offering 2010 green tea for Zu Ye Qing and Xu Fu Long Ya. Is it just me or does it seem a little too early for 2010 tea?

Anyone have guesses for first flush times by region (Chinese tea)?

[Chip]

Xu Fu Long Ya is always early to market as new harvest. There is a race to offer the earliest new harvest teas in China (and Darjeeling, etc.). I prefer to wait a while as I find these uber early Chinese greens are high priced and rarely worth the high price.

Although I really like Zhu Ye Qing quite a bit, I was not aware of this being an early tea.

[gingkoseto]

It depends on first flush of what tea. Besides, in mountainous regions, harvests on mount tops and lower areas could be very different. I am surprised by such early zhu ye qing too.
I have a green tea in mail now. It was out much earlier and I had it delayed. It was made on Jan. 1, 2010, in Xi Shuang Ban Na, Yunnan. I guess no other tea can beat it by time Oh well, I am sure it was ready to harvest on Dec. 31, 2009, but then it would have been a 2009 tea

P.S. I vaguely remember someone told me Sichuan had a warm winter this time. Maybe that partially explains the early harvests.

[beachape]

Well, at least it is making me think warmer thoughts....still snow in these parts.

I think I'll hold off a few months for Chinese greens. I think I'm going to focus on Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun this year. Last year I tried a greater variety of Chinese greens only to find that I liked those the best. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for the famous top 10 list.

[Jack_teachat]

My bad for not seeing this thread!

Plenty of new teas on Yunnan Sourcing!

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/cat ... category=4

Jack

[gingkoseto]

I have a green tea in mail now...

Got it this morning. Have been drinking it all day, excited and caffeinated

[skilfautdire]

Got some from Yunnansourcing. Mao feng (fancy), bi luo chun. And yue guang bai (Ancient Moonlight). All from Yunnan. That must be known to every experienced tea drinker, at first sight these teas are way much fluffier than 'regular' teas. I.e. they take a lot of space. And as such fills the teapot (gaiwan) a lot more to achieve the same weight. They're quite interesting and inexpensive (@ approx. $0.61 a first cup, (8 grams per cup) not including subsequent infusions with the same leaves. Price per cup includes rather expensive EMS shipping - so there's a way to make it even cheaper there).

Anyways, the mao feng is quite potent but might not have as full of a taste as the later ones produced from middle of China. The bi luo chun is quite aromatic and is somewhat less 'fluffy' than the others. The yue guang bai is a white tea and is very different fromt he other two.

They're great day to day teas and they do have a lively aspect to them, making each brew a distinct experience. Maybe they're more sensitive to water temps and steeping time; maybe it's easier to play with the volume of leaves. More than the other, regular in-season production so to speak, green Chinese teas I've had so far.

[pimli]

Hooray! TeaSpring has their Spring 2010 Dong Ting Bi Luo Chun in already. I've been waiting for this one since the beginning of March.

[marlena]

They've been picking in Southern China for at least 3 weeks, probably more.

Just discovered a lovely new to me Jasmine - Snowflakes in Green Lake . Really one of the best I've ever had. Got it from Life in Teacup.