August 23, 2007
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Tea sourcing
For starters, I think the small, local nature of many Chinese regions tea businesses compared to the international ‘factory’ approach both simplifies but also complicates purchasing teas for international customers. Being based in Shanghai, with a Fujianese partner, you have access to many expert tea lovers who are directly connected to the tea farmers more often or not by family ties. This small scale production of Oolong’s means that each batch is quite small, for example Wan Ling, who travels to several villages, often only buying 5-10kg batches from single independent farmers (per day). Due to the relatively short supply chain and long term relationships, farmers can not afford nor see any advantage in tainting their products which ulitmately are their livelihood. Where I see potential problems arising is when larger national and international companies become involved. Contact between consumer and supplier becomes blurred and unfortunately it becomes a simply ‘money’ equation i.e. international company wants volume at low cost, farmer needs volume to maintain income. These larger volumes of tea means that hundreds of batches of tea are mixed together in factories for packaging. Such intensive farming has been proven to drain soils of nutrients, which then leads the situation where chemicals need to be used, whereas those farmers whose customers demand quality do not need to force vast yields, and often are unable because of living on mountains (hills) which are not suitable for winter & summer harvests in addition to the traditional spring/autumn ones. Additional advantages of this natural hill/mountain location is that numerous pests associated with tea cultivation are less prevalent, furthermore often to prevent erosion or just merely the land can’t be cultivated there is that a great mix of plant cover thereby ensuring diversification which helps ensure good quality soil.
The model discussed here, combines both fair trade, reduces the ballooning costs of a long supply chain and gives the consumer control. Utilising this approach also can allow end customers to
influence what they are drinking. For example Wan Ling is able to request different levels of oxidation to meet specific customers needs.
On a possible negative side, one area that I would like to know more about is the impact of re-planting. Interestingly in many parts of India plants are well over 50 years old, whereas, except in Yunnan, most tea plants are cultivated with a maximum life of approx. 25 years. This however is not the case in some parts of Fujian where it is popular just to use 2-3 year old plants with replanting around 4-5years. Does this drain additional nutrients? I assume a stable ground cover of 25years+ is preferable?
Comments (4)
Anjit
Interesting post
I can’t speak all the tea gardens in China, but certainly for the green tea gardens I work with in middle China (Zhejiang and Anhui provinces), tea plants are considerably older than 2-3 years. The yield tend to increase with age, and then drop back afterwards. I think it is difficult to compare India and China, especially Eastern China, where the sinesis (small-leaf) varieties are used.
Will this rob the soil of nutrients? Well, these green tea gardens only harvest their leaves once a year in spring for a period of less than 6 weeks.
This is the same for all the high grade green and white tea gardens I come across in China. So I guess the answer is no.
Oolong and pu-erh tea gardens are a different stories. But even the very very best oolong tea gardens, again the one that I come across, in the Middle of the Wuyi mountain, too only harvest their teas once a year intermittenly over a period of 3 months.
Julian
http://www.amazing-green-tea.com
Julian
Tea bushes when mature gives a very good coverage to the soil and 6″ weed undercover add to this soil coverage which saves soil erosion due to cut off rain droplets. Falling leaves add to humus thereby increasing soil nutition which is normally upto 6″ soil depth only.
Frequent 2-3 year uprooting/replanting tea bush cycle may give good quality, but expose soil to these falling rain droplets and direct sunlight does further damage. Tea quality does not compensate for this soil and thereby nutrition depletion.
Very limited time plucking from very young tea plants for excellent quality teas does not save bushes from these soil and nutrition losses, nor this quality compensates the losses.
In september 2006 in Hangzhou I saw that despite fine flush on the bushes the regular plucking was declared close and later in Meijia Wu I was explained that it was perfectly in order to stop plucking at such early time to make good quality teas.
To a Darjeeling tea planter this is a collosal loss, but true as you said, India and China tea secne can not be compared.
Ankit
Many thanks for your comments which are very helpful.
When you say colossal loss, do you mean for not plucking them early enough, or not plucking them in the autumn season?
Julian
If a ready leaf is not plucked, it is a waste. There is a phenomenon called absolute yield which means the quantity of leaf a bush can give and then the quantity which is harvested.
In case of chinese teas lots of ready leaves are not harvested – which according to me is total loss. It drops off to ground with the passage of time, which gets recycled.
Rajiv Lochan