The 2019 harvest begins!

The early spring weather determines the timing of the first tea harvest. This year, late winter was very cold, which held off the beginnings of growth we usually see in March. But when spring finally came, it arrived with gusto, with warm sunshine and then a long dose of rains. Everything bloomed and took off at once, my tea plants included. I've been keeping an eye on them, and decided to take the first harvest today.

Var. assamica enthusiastically greeting spring!

While there is debate about whether camellia sinensis var. assamica is a real thing, I am going to refer to some of my plants as assamica to distinguish them as descended from the teas of the Indian subcontinent, as opposed to the tea plants descended from Chinese plants. Are they all the same? I don't know, but they have different behaviors in my garden. Sinensis var. "Blushing Maiden" is the least robust in my yard, but has perhaps the worst dirt to live in. My assamicas from the Black Sea region are by far the most vigorous, with my unnamed sinensis varieties falling in between. The bulk of what I picked today was assamica, with a smattering of sinensis.

Cat supervising, not helping. At all.

Popular opinion says assamica varieties are not suited to processing as green teas; rather they should only be processed as black teas. However, my obsession with Japanese-style green teas remains strong, with my technique painfully far from perfection, so I am practicing with some of my assamica leaves.

Unwithered assamica leaves, just out of a two minute steam.

I was recently introduced to a magnificent white tea by the folks at Zuo Wang Tea, and Kim at Olive and Vine introduced me to a surprisingly wonderful Kenyan white tea. Since every year the internet provides more detailed information about the processing of tea, this year I was able to find some good descriptions of how white tea is made. (No, you don't just pick it and leave it.) I decided to try the world's tiniest batch of white tea with my tiny harvest of sinensis leaves.

Will it turn into white tea?? Stay tuned!

The leaves above are from my unnamed sinensis plants. "Blushing maiden," pictured below, is looking pallid as a consumptive Victorian this year, and may need some intensive nutrition to make some good leaves for next year. I don't know if I will use any Blushing Maiden leaves this year.

Yes, "Blushing Maiden" should have a slight red tinge, but this much is clear indication of nutrient deficiency.

I ended up with three small tea batches: the white tea, the steamed green, and a batch for black tea. I fired up my trusty heat mats and set about rolling the steamed tea and the unsteamed tea that will become black tea.

Unsteamed tea on the left, steamed on the right

After the steamed tea enjoyed a bit of mat time for rolling, I kicked it out in order to move the unrolled white tea onto the mat. As you can see in the image below, while these teas were both picked this morning, the rolling applied to the assamica on the left has started the oxidation/ fermentation process that will yield black tea. The sinensis on the right has had no rolling and the gentlest handling. It has retained its bright green color.

Rolled on the left, coddled on the right

I am deeply skeptical the white tea will be at all successful; that is why I've devoted a minimal amount of precious leaves to the attempt. The oxidation of the rolled batch is proceeding in a beautiful, even fashion, save for a few mature leaves that snuck into the mix.

Stay tuned to this page for photos of the results and evaluation of the flavors!