Enshi

1. It's the perfect season for selecting and enjoying fresh green tea. There are many varieties of green tea, and the optimal sales period for high-quality teas is short. You may buy some to try the new season's flavors, stock up on your favorites, or exchange them as gifts with relatives and friends... Before you know it, you've accumulated a good amount of tea. And the typical shelf life indicated for green tea is "one year." Many tea enthusiasts have found themselves with leftovers beyond this timeframe, handling them in various ways. Some continue drinking it as usual, while others believe it can no longer be consumed and dispose of it or use it as fertilizer. Image: Yulü from Enshi, Hubei Can green tea still be consumed after its expiry date (usually one year)? Based on our experience at Tea Encyclopedia: Drink it within the shelf life and as soon as possible; after the expiry date, whether it can still be consumed depends more on the current quality of the tea. In other words, rather than fixating on an uncertain time point, consider the following questions. — How can we store green tea daily to preserve its freshness as much…

Tea picking requires a large amount of labor and is highly seasonal. With urbanization, there has been a significant loss of young and able rural labor, increasing the demand for mechanized tea picking. However, we have gradually discovered that mechanically harvested tea gardens often quickly develop chicken claw branches and experience a rapid decline in the quality of fresh tea leaves.In late April 2023, I conducted a pruning and revitalization experiment in my family's tea garden in Enshi, Hubei, primarily attempting to replicate the tea garden management practices of the West Lake Longjing region in Hangzhou. This involves heavy pruning of the tea plants in late April to early May, followed by fertilization, and another heavy pruning in mid-to-late July to promote the growth of more productive branches, with a light pruning in November. The goal is to maximize the benefits of spring tea production. Figure 1 shows the result of my pruning at the time, preserving the main branches. Figure 1 However, out of laziness, I wanted to see what the effect would be without fertilizing or pruning again in mid-to-late July, so I only performed the initial pruning. During my visit home for the holidays this year, I…

In order to carry out the "Procuratorial Protection for Enterprises" special work solidly and promote the optimization of a legal business environment, on August 9th, Xu Jianping, a dedicated member of the Procuratorial Committee of the Enshi Prefecture People's Procuratorate, conducted special research on tea industry development under the "Procuratorial Protection for Enterprises" initiative at He Feng County's Kai Rong Industrial Development Co., Ltd. Procuratorial "Protection for Enterprises" specialists from the Enshi Prefecture People's Procuratorate, as well as those from Xianfeng County, Lai Feng County, and He Feng County, participated in the research, with people's supervisors also invited to join. "Kai Rong Company was established in October 2019 and is the largest investment enterprise in He Feng County for Zhejiang tea entering Hubei Province, as part of the county's key investment promotion efforts. Its products are primarily sold in North Africa, West Africa, Western Europe, and other regions. It is the largest tea export company in Hubei Province, exporting over 6,600 tons of tea in 2023, generating foreign exchange earnings of $32 million. It ranks among the top in the province, and it is expected that in 2024, foreign exchange earnings from exports could reach $50 million." During the research,…

Last time, we discussed the types of green tea. Today, let's talk about how to pick high-quality tea. After all, finding a great green tea is the goal. Here are four steps that will help you choose your ideal tea and quickly go from novice to expert. Step 1: Examine the Appearance Check if the tea leaves are intact and not broken. Observe if the color of the dry tea is bright, lustrous, and glossy. Severely broken dry tea can affect the taste of the tea infusion. Brightness, luster, and glossiness indicate the quality and freshness of the tea, as green tea is best enjoyed for its aroma, tenderness, and freshness. Generally, green tea harvested before the Qingming Festival is considered top-quality. Step 2: Smell the Aroma The aroma of tea includes both the dry tea and the infused tea. When shopping, focus on assessing the purity, type, intensity, and persistence of the aroma after brewing. In daily purchases, pouring a small amount of boiling water over the dry tea to release its aroma and then smelling it can be very effective. Step 3: Evaluate the Liquor Color and Taste Evaluate the color, brightness, and clarity of the tea liquor…

In the height of summer, tea gardens across Hefeng County in Enshi Prefecture buzz with activity. Once neglected summer and autumn teas have become highly sought after due to the use of mechanized tea harvesters. Processing these off-season teas has not only increased the average yield per acre but also bolstered the economic returns for tea farmers. In recent days, in Guanding Village, Zouma Town, Hefeng County, local resident Chen Yonghong has been busy picking summer tea alongside his family. With the help of mechanized tea pickers, they can harvest over 2,000 pounds in a day, which can fetch around 3,000 yuan at current market prices. Local tea farmers explain that hand-picking is inefficient, and once the tea garden reaches a certain size, timely harvesting becomes challenging, leading to unsold tea. Furthermore, because summer and autumn teas sell for much less than spring teas, farmers often opt not to harvest them, resulting in waste. While villagers are busy picking, nearby enterprises are busy processing. Locals deliver several loads of fresh tea leaves daily to a tea company in Enshi Prefecture. Inside the factory, machines hum as more than 20 workers work overtime to fill orders from Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, and…