That’s right, those that are really single bush processed are very little in quantity, some as little as one kilo a year. However, a lot of such production trees are quite huge and dense and make 5 kilos. Some people even claim 10, but I doubt that. These batches are not cheap. In the early Communist regime, one was reserved expressly for the notorious Chairman Mao. Now people come in their limo to wait for the processing to complete to take home, paying often a few hundred thousands RMB, directly in cash to the farmer, for the batch. That translates to tens of thousand USD for a couple of kilos of tea.
So do you think that’s high efficiency or low efficiency?
In terms of taste, those nova-riches are making a mistake that we old time traders see immediately — the tealeaves that they got from the farmers are maocha, ie leaves before the final finish processing. Often this step is done by the producers, not the farmers. Without this step, the tea tastes fresh and bright for a few weeks, and never at its peak taste potential.
Finish processing for oolongs, esp traditional oolongs, requires a few important steps for quality optimization and storage. Baking of the leaves is involved. Resting of the tea is another. Different varieties and different quality grades require different attention. The true wonders of a tea can then unveil itself upon proper infusion.
