This photo is the first tea we picked and processed this new year. This was taken on April 8 when the solar eclipse was at about 75%. It is in my dry pen, drying out in the sun, a drying technique I learned from the Chinese. The dry pen keeps the wind from blowing on the surface and it quickly dries the tea. It is vulnerable to storms and I have to rebuild it about three times a year. Also during rainy weather I wish I used a convection oven like everyone else but this technique is artesian.
Obliviously this is a batch of green and a batch of black tea. We toasted this black tea (you don’t toast green tea) last night and it came in a bit over 12 pounds dry. We had come really close to running out of black tea. I’d say the little bag I had left over was about a half a pound. I can not say we had much more than that of green tea. Buy still I can say we have continuously sold tea since the 1990’s and have not sold out of stock.
Our tea tours are still going on here almost every day. People seem to really enjoy the visit to the tea farm experience. Remember, call for reservation, its not a tea social but a class on how tea is grown and made, we have the same biting bugs as anywhere outside in the south and it will cost you $20 per person in hard cash. Come visit.
Donnie